


Away From It All

by TriStarRebel09



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Cabin Fic, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:54:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 22,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27813352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriStarRebel09/pseuds/TriStarRebel09
Summary: Jack and Sam's first trip alone together to the cabin doesn't exactly go to plan. Assumes S/J, set in Season 10, after Insiders.
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 74
Kudos: 143





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A massive thank you to Stargatesarah for her general awesomeness and being my beta on this one!

Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter leaned over the desk in her lab, completely absorbed in the experiment she was running. She stuck her tongue between her teeth as she concentrated on the sample she was extracting. Carefully holding the syringe she didn’t notice anyone coming in until a pair of arms encircled her from behind and a voice murmured in her ear, “Hey Carter.”

Startled, she gasped and lost her grip on the syringe and petri dish she was holding, which crashed down to the bench and shattered as she whirled around, instinct causing her to raise her on the way, to see General Jack O’Neill in full dress blues standing behind her. 

“Woah Carter! Easy, it’s just me,” he said taking a step back and pulling his hands away from her and holding them up. 

“Sir! Hi. Sorry, you just took me by surprise is all.”

“That was kinda the point,” he smirked. 

“You probably should make sure I’m not working with something toxic or radioactive though before you surprise me,” she said picking up the pieces of the broken dish and tossing them into the trash. 

“Why? Is that going to kill us all?” Jack asked, waving a hand towards the bin. 

“Well, no,” she admitted. “It’s plant samples, for Daniel.”

“Then I don’t see what the problem is,” he said, taking a step towards her again and pulling her into a hug. “I missed you.”

“Missed you too,” she said against his chest. “How is Washington?”

“Shit storm as usual,” he murmured. “Spent the whole time thinking about getting back. And doing this.” Suddenly he leaned her backwards against her desk. She gasped softly as he trailed a line of kisses across her jaw. Sam grabbed onto his black tie and yanking it pulled his mouth onto hers, drinking him in. She reached her free hand up to twist into his hair, and he wrapped an arm around the small of her back and pulled her hips tightly into his. He tipped her back farther so she was almost laying across the desk, papers crinkling underneath her. 

God she missed him, missed this. The smell of his aftershave was filling her head, intoxicating her. She closed her eyes and breathed it in, savoring the way it made her feel. She was lost in his smell, in his eyes, in his mouth. 

“Sam!” came a voice from just outside her lab. Her eyes flew open and widened and they both stood up quickly just as Daniel walked into the room shuffling through a stack full of papers. “Do you have those samples for me?” He looked up as Sam ran a hand through her hair trying to push it back down. “Oh Jack!” Daniel said. “I heard you were here. Uh, I actually need to talk to you about a recon mission I proposed to P4X-773. 

“Daniel,” the Colonel growled out, inclining his head towards Sam. 

The archaeologist hurried on, completely oblivious. “Jack, there are some incredible ruins there with enormous intrinsic value and I really think if you’d just authorize it it would be incredibly worthwhile and give us a ton of new data.”

“Why are you even asking me? You know I’m not in command anymore here. Go talk to Landry about it.”

“Oh I did, last week. He said no, kicked me out of his office. Something about not being a priority now and having to divert resources but I thought if you talked to him then…”

“Fine!” Jack interrupted. “Consider it authorized!”

Daniel looked taken aback. “You sure? I had a whole speech prepared.”

“No need. Go. Have fun. Excavate. ” 

Sam bit her lip to keep from laughing. 

“Great!” Said Daniel brightly walking back out. “Maybe see you at the briefing then.”

“Goodbye Daniel!” Jack called after him. 

He let out a breath and went to reach back towards Sam just as Daniel poked his head back into the room. “Oh Sam, the samples? Are they done?”

She looked down at the desk. “Ah, almost. I’ll have them done by the end of the day,” she hurriedly added.

“Thanks!” he said before disappearing once again. 

“Okay, enough of this!” Jack said as Sam broke down laughing. “It’s time you and I got away.”

Jack had left her with strict instructions to be ready to leave in the morning. 

“But Sir, I actually have a lot…”

“Ah!” He interrupted holding up a finger. “Carter, no buts! Tomorrow, you, me, Minnesota. Not another living soul. Did I mention that’s an order?” 

She smirked and leaned closer. “Oh well in that case, yes Sir.”

He looked out into the hallway before pulling her in for a long kiss that had Sam ready to float away and melt into the floor all at the same time. 

“I’ll pick you up at 0800,” he said, pulling away much too soon in her opinion. 

“Mmm,” she replied, for once not able to form a coherent sentence. 

“And don’t you dare bring a laptop or work of any kind!” He said as he walked backwards out of her lab. 

She heard the truck pull up outside her house the next morning precisely at 0800. Peeking through the blinds in the front window of her house she saw the General open the door and climb out of the truck. He leaned against it, one leg propped up against it, arms folded across his chest. Even though the sun was hiding behind a thick blanket of clouds, he had his sunglasses on. 

She ran her tongue over her lips. After having spent so many years trying to ignore the irresistible tug of appeal he had on her, she appreciated any chance and excuse to just stare for a moment. 

She was tempted to walk out, grab him by the front of his perfectly tight in all the right places black t-shirt, pull him into her house, and just skip the whole journey to Minnesota altogether. But she knew him. Once he had his mind set on the cabin, only world ending scenarios or the Asgard beaming him off the Earth could prevent him from going. 

She grabbed her bag from where it sat by the front door, locked it behind her and walked down to the General's truck. 

“Hi Sir,” she said. 

“Sam,” he quipped, “you know we talked about that when it’s just us.”

“Sorry S...Jack,” she quickly corrected. “Old habits.” 

“Ready to go?”

“Yep.”

He held out his hand for her bag and she reluctantly let go and handed it to him. He frowned, “there better not be a laptop or anything else remotely connected to work in here.”

“Of course not!” she said lightly. 

“No naquadah generators or gate diagnostic materials?”

“Actually I did bring a technical manual on…” His eyes narrowed and she couldn’t help but break into laughter. “Just kidding.”

“Good,” he said leaning down. She looked up into his dark eyes right before closing her own. His tongue swept lightly across her lips and warmth poured into her as she kissed him back. She loved the way he tasted. Like honey and coffee. 

He turned his head slightly so he could nibble her earlobe before murmuring, “Because you know, lying to a superior officer is a serious offense.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it Jack,” she said. She stepped back and grinned widely at him. He reached behind her and pulled the door to the passenger side of his truck open and she slipped under his arm and climbed inside. 


	2. Chapter 2

Several hours later after a drive to a local airfield, a Cessna flight, and another drive, the tires on their borrowed car crunched to a halt in the gravel outside Jack’s cabin. Sam looked through the open windows to the small log structure tucked in between the trees next to the lake. 

Jack took a deep breath, “Ahh!” he said. “Minnesota air. Nothing like it in the entire galaxy. So much better than whatever crap it is they’re breathing in Washington and Colorado.”

Sam briefly thought about pointing out the fact that due to the jet stream it was essentially the same air but knew better than to challenge Jack’s thoughts on the matter. She looked down at where her hand lay wrapped in his. He had pulled it into his as soon as they had gotten into the car, and he had made no move to let it go in the time since. 

It was quiet in the truck as they sat for a moment. While she had been to the cabin several times before, she was struck by the sudden realization that this was the first time she had been here alone. With Jack. Her stomach clenched slightly and she couldn’t believe she was actually nervous. 

The last few months with Jack had been a whirlwind that had been so many years coming. Their time together was earth shatteringly exciting and better than she ever could have imagined. But at the same time it was so different from the roles they had lived for so long, and now, that it was finally a reality, Sam found herself still not quite believing it was actually real. 

She turned her eyes from the window and met Jack’s, he had been staring at her. 

“You okay?” He asked, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. 

“Of course,” she said. Maybe it was her imagination, but she could swear that he was nervous too. General Jack O’Neill had faced down more enemies and had saved the world more times than she could count but she could see the faint lines of anxiety around his eyes. They’d danced around this relationship for years, knowing the stakes, and ignoring their feelings. However, now that she had known what she had been missing, she wasn’t about to miss out on another minute of it. 

“Shall we?” She said, inclining her head towards the cabin. 

Jack smiled, one of those knee weakening smiles and she saw the appreciation flash through his eyes. “You betcha,” he said. 

Jack climbed out of the truck and grabbed the bags from the trunk. Sam followed him up across the porch and into the small cabin. She took in the smells of pine wood, old fireplace smoke, and leather books. It was small, and dim, but this she could get used to. 

“Uh, make yourself at home,” Jack called as he tossed their bags into the bedroom. Sam winced slightly as she heard hers unceremoniously hit the floor. 

He appeared back in the doorway. “You didn’t pack very much,” he commented. 

“First, Air Force, second, I didn’t think I’d need much,” she gave him a suggestive smile and he studied her, biting his lip just slightly. 

“You want a beer?” He asked after a moment. 

“Ah, sure.”

“Hopefully there are still some in here,” he said walking towards the small kitchen. There was the sound of glass clinking and he emerged back in the main room holding two bottles. 

“Need to have a word with Hank about replacing the stash if I’m going to let him come up here,” he complained, holding out a bottle to her. She took it and took a sip quickly making a face. 

“How old is this?” She asked. 

Jack took a long gulp, “Dunno, why?” He said. “What’s wrong with it?” 

“Nothing,” she smiled and took another sip, trying not to grimace. She turned to look at the bookshelf behind her and ran a finger along the spines. She felt Jack’s eyes boring into her back and she slowly turned back around.

“What?” She asked. He was leaning against the wall studying her intently. 

“I was starting to think that I’d never get you up here. You know, just us. So I’m trying to convince myself that you’re actually here. That this is real.”

“Actually, quantum theory suggests that…”

In five quick steps he had crossed the room and interrupted her sentence by taking her face in his hands and capturing her mouth in a kiss that shocked and thrilled her with his urgency. 

He pulled away from her lips long enough to breath into her ear with a throaty whisper, “no theories tonight Colonel.”

“Yes sir. Sorry, Jack.”

“No. Say it again.” He put one finger under her chin and tipped it up, just so she was looking him straight in the eyes. Her heart was threatening to beat itself out of her chest and adrenaline was coursing through her veins faster than if she had been in a firefight. Her skin was burning where he had touched her, and she was losing herself in her dark eyes. 

“Yes sir,” she slowly whispered. 

He growled in approval, plucked the beer from her hands and set it on top of the bookshelf. In a heartbeat he had claimed her mouth again, wrapped his arms around her and pushed her backwards into the wall behind her. The rough logs of the cabin bit into her back through her thin shirt. 

Jack dropped one hand from her back and reached for one of hers to pin against the wall over her head. Beginning right where her jaw met her neck he began to leave a line of kisses downwards. His teeth tugged at her sensitive skin just enough to send a ripple of pleasure down her spine. She moaned quietly in response and arched her back, pushing her hips into his. “Oh sir,” she sighed, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. 

He had reached the hollow at the bottom of her neck and was now kissing along her collarbone. He stopped for a moment to gaze at the front of her deep V cut black shirt. 

“I like this shirt,” he said appreciatively, trailing a finger with a feather touch under the neckline. She opened her eyes to look at him. 

“Enough to leave it on?” She raised her other hand above her head and he ever so slowly dragged his hands down her arms, across her ribs down her sides to the hem of her shirt. Just as slowly he peeled it back up, over her arms and off. He dropped it to the ground. 

She took advantage of the fact that he was no longer pinning her arms and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him back to her. She kissed him, wildly, intensely, her desperate desire for him mounting. 

Without coming up for air she fumbled with the buttons down the front of his shirt. She finally got it open and ran a hand down his chest, marveling at how his skin felt under her hands. She reached the top of his pants and hesitated for just a second before flipping the button through the hole and sliding the zipper down. 

She tugged then over his waist and they fell to the floor as she took a moment to admire him standing there in front of her. She bit her lip and he leaned towards her reaching behind to squeeze her ass. 

“Your turn,” he said, sliding his hands around the front and undoing the button on her jeans with the flick of a finger. He slipped them over her hips and down her legs, his hands leaving hot, tingling tendrils over her thighs. 

One the fabric was pooling on the ground she pulled one foot out, then the other, but it stuck and she stumbled. Throwing an arm out to maintain her balance she sent the beer bottle flying off the top of the bookshelf when it shattered across the floor. 

“Oops,” she said, face turning slightly red. 

“Bedroom,” Jack said firmly. He scooped her up like she weighed nothing. Their skin touching was sending waves of electricity coursing through her. She had never wanted anything so much in her life.

He crossed behind the couch and entered the bedroom before tossing her onto the bed and kicking the door shut behind him. 


	3. Chapter 3

Jack admired the way the failing light coming through the window of the bedroom fell across Sam’s face and made her hair glow. Almost like a halo he thought idly, and he smiled to himself. Contrary to how it had started in the main room, by the time he had her in the bed and she had freed him from his boxers, some of their urgency had melted away and it became slow, gentle. He had locked eyes with her and lost himself in their blue depths and floated away like a ship on the ocean. 

He had collapsed on top of her afterwards, both of them panting. She ran her fingers through his mostly silver hair and smiled lazily at him. He rolled off of her and laid his arm out in invitation to her. She snuggled in against his chest and he ran his fingers slowly up and down her arm as he slowly felt his racing heart slow back down. 

He was watching the speckled light play across her eyes when she tipped her head up to look at him.

“What is it?” she asked, seeing his contemplative look.

“Just wondering how I got so lucky,” he said back. 

“I could probably be persuaded to make you lucky again,” she said meaningfully. 

“Mmm,” he said leaving a soft kiss on her forehead, “you are damn good at it.”

She snickered slightly. “We’ve known each other for nine years, don’t think I never thought about making you lucky at least a few times.”

He raised an eyebrow, “really?”

“Common, you never thought about it?”

“Yes, I mean, I tried not to, but…” he stammered then started again. “Seriously Sam, what I meant was when I think about how many times I almost lost you and I never…” he trailed off and tightened his arm around her. 

“I’m here now,” she said. 

He pulled away, just enough to look her in the eyes. “I love you Sam,” he said. 

“I love you too Jack.”

He smiled fiendishly and in one quick move flipped her over onto her stomach causing her to yelp outloud. “Now, how about we get back to ‘Sir’?” he said suggestively. 

As the sun crept back up into the sky the next morning, Jack opened his eyes to see a mop of blonde hair next to him, almost completely buried in the covers. He smiled as memories of last night came rushing back. He leaned over and kissed Sam gently on the forehead. She mumbled something and pulled the covers up higher but didn’t wake up. 

Jack quietly swung his legs over the side of the bed and slid out from under the duvet. It took him a moment but he finally found his boxers discarded in a corner after Sam had looped her fingers in the elastic and shot them across the room the previous evening. 

Softly he opened the door and crept out. He was thinking he would make some coffee and then wake Sam up in a very specific way for another round. Actually, he realized, he would be just fine if they didn’t leave the bed all weekend. Fishing be damned. 

As he crept through the main room behind the couch he heard a sound. His hand immediately went to his thigh out of habit even as he belatedly realized there was no weapon holstered there. He did a double take towards the couch as he realized there was someone sitting there.

“Oh hi Jack,” Daniel said, turning around. 

There was the SGC’s resident archaeologist, sitting on his couch flipping through a magazine. “Holy shit Daniel!” Jack yelled out, completely forgetting about Sam sleeping in the next room. 

“What?” he said absently flicking another page. 

“What in the hell are you doing in my cabin?” he demanded, suddenly very aware he was just in his boxers. His eyes darted around, looking for something, anything else to put on.

Daniel correctly interpreted his casting glance and smirked. “Don’t know why you’re so worried Jack, you’ve seen me naked.”

“Out! Now!” Jack pointed to the door.

“What do you mean?” Daniel asked, finally laying down the magazine and looking hurt. 

Just then the bedroom door cracked open and Sam walked out wearing a long button down flannel shirt that just barely grazed the top of her thighs.

“Jack?” she asked warily. “What’s going...oh god, Daniel??” Her cheeks turned bright red. 

“Hi Sam!” Daniel gave her a small wave. “That Jack’s shirt? You guys have a good time last night?” His smirk deepened as he swept his hand to indicate the shattered glass of the beer bottle that still littered the floor. 

“Daniel!” Jack said sternly. “My original question stands. What the hell are you doing here?”

“Why do you guys keep asking me that? Oh I made coffee by the way, he indicated with a thumb over his shoulder towards the kitchen, should still be some.” He took a sip from the mug he was holding. 

Sam was trying to pull the shirt further down her legs. “We ah, just didn’t think that anyone, that is, we haven’t told anyone and…”

“Oh you think this is a secret?” Daniel asked, waving a finger between the two of them. He laughed. “Teal’c and I have known for weeks. Even if we didn’t know you guys, you haven’t exactly been subtle, making out all over the SGC like a couple teenagers whenever Jack comes in town.”

Sam turned an even deeper shade of red and Jack was looking murderous so Sam laid a hand on his arm. He took a deep breath and started again. “Great, so you know. Now can you get lost so we can have the place to ourselves?”

“But it’s team weekend.” Daniel said, picking up his magazine again. “Crazily enough I’ve actually been looking forward to it. It’s been so long.”

“No it’s not,” Jack frowned. “We’re not even a team anymore!” he added after a second. 

“Well, whatever it is, yes, Sam invited me.”

“What? No I didn’t.”   
“Carter?” Jack asked, taking a step away from her. 

“I did not Sir.” 

Daniel smirked again as they fell back into their old way of addressing each other. “You emailed me yesterday afternoon about coming up.”

“I emailed you?” Sam asked. 

“I assure you Daniel, there was no emailing going on yesterday afternoon if you know what I mean.”

He made a face. “Really Jack? So mature.”

“Daniel!” 

“Hey guys,” said Sam holding up her hands. “Can we maybe get back to the part where first, someone knows the General and I are up here, and secondly is using my email to get Daniel up here as well?”

“And Teal’c.”

“Teal’c is here?” Jack asked incredulously. 

As if in response there was a knock at the door. Daniel dropped his magazine, hopped off the couch and walked over to yank it open revealing Teal’c standing on the porch holding a box of donuts. 

“Oh for crying out loud,” Jack breathed. 


	4. Chapter 4

“Daniel Jackson!” Teal’c said smiling, offering up the box. “I have provided donuts for us.” 

“Great Teal’c,” said Daniel, taking the box from his hands. “Come on in.” 

Teal’c walked into the room and caught sight of Sam and Jack who were both looking slightly shell shocked at the turn their weekend had taken. 

“O’Neill! What has transpired that has caused you to have lost your clothes? Were you perhaps robbed?” He glanced at Sam and raised one eyebrow. “Were you and Colonel Carter engaging in…”

“Ah!” said Jack loudly. “You don’t need to go there Teal’c.”

“Then perhaps congratulations are in order to you both. I have known for quite some time that you and Colonel Carter are currently involved in a relationship of a sexual nature. However Daniel Jackson has told me not to say anything as you were quite pleased with your apparent subterfuge.”

“Thanks Teal’c,” Daniel said.

“You are most welcome Daniel Jackson.”

Jack rubbed his face hard with his hands and Sam looked like she wanted to melt into the floor. “Okay!” he yelled, putting his hands up. “I am going to get dressed and take a shower. When I come back out there had better be plenty of hot coffee and someone better tell me what the hell is going on here!” He stalked back across the floor to the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind him. 

“Donut?” Daniel asked, opening up the box.

Sam looked at the closed bedroom door and sighed raggedly. “It’s fine, I didn’t want pants,” she said under her breath. 

She sat down on the couch and Daniel dropped next to her open donut box still in his hands. He reached under himself and offered her a blanket he was sitting on. She gratefully accepted it and pulled it over her lap. 

“Sam, I’m so sorry,” he said, swallowing. “You know I have to give Jack a hard time, but if I had known this supposed to just be the two of you I never would have just shown up.”

“It’s fine Daniel,” she said. “Well, it’s not fine, but you know.”

He pushed the box her way and she pulled out a chocolate donut and took a large bite. 

“Oh wow! These are really good Teal’c,” she said. The former Jaffa inclined his head towards her. 

“Teal’c goes an hour out of his way to pick those up. I swear he can smell them or something.” Daniel shrugged and grabbed another one. Teal’c gave him a stern look before walking over to snatch the box from his hands. 

“What?” he asked through a mouthful of donut. 

“So tell me more about this email,” Sam asked, licking a bit of chocolate off her finger tip. “You said it came from me?”

“Yeah,” Daniel said thoughtfully. “It just said team weekend at the cabin. See you there. Now that I think about it, it really didn’t sound like you at all.”

“You think?” Sam asked. 

“I do not understand,” Teal’c asked. “Did the email not come from you Colonel Carter? Are we not meant to be here?”

“That’s up for debate,” Daniel said. 

“Ha ha,” Sam replied sarcastically. “We need to know who sent that though. Please someone tell me they brought a computer.”

“Uh I did, of course,” Daniel said. “It’s over there in my bag, right by your jeans Sam.” 

She jerked her head up sharply to see where he was pointing. His laptop bag sat next to her crumpled jeans still lying in a puddle on the floor. She glared at him, whipped the blanket off her lap and chucked it at his head. “Now you tell me!”

She complained. 

Jack emerged from the shower, the hot water only doing a little to dispel his bad mood which returned in full force as he saw Daniel, Sam and Teal’c sitting around the table staring at a laptop. 

“Okay!” He fumed. “It’s bad enough that you guys showed up here unannounced but you brought a laptop with you!? You know how I feel about having that crap at the cabin! Did you sneak that in Carter?”

She glanced up and a hurt look crossed her face. 

“Calm down Jack,” Daniel said in a patronizing tone. “It's mine.”

“Still not okay,” Jack grumbled. 

“Well I had to have something to do while you two were screwing, I mean fishing. Fishing around.” 

Sam jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. 

“Keep it up Danny boy and I will physically throw you out of here. My no technology rule does not extend to weapons!” 

Daniel ignored him and looked back at the screen.

Jack had stalked outside and plunked himself down in a chair on the dock. This was so not how he had envisioned his weekend with Sam going and it was annoying him to no end. He flicked his line into the pond in front of him and tried to let the fishing calm envelop him. 

There was a sound and he looked over to see Sam setting up a fold up chair next to him. 

“Hi Sir,” she said a little hesitatingly. 

He rolled his head over to look at her. “Sam,” he said. He realized that he wasn’t exactly being fair to her and instantly felt guilty. None of this was her fault. “Sorry,” he said after a minute. “I’ve just been thinking about how this would go, you and me up here alone, for years now. And never once did mysterious invitations and Daniel and Teal’c factor into those thoughts.”

Her face twisted into a smile. “I know. But we’re still here. We can still enjoy it.” She put out her hand to him, and he took one hand off the pole to hold it. 

“You find anything on the email?” He asked after a while. 

“No.” She sounded slightly frustrated. “Whoever sent it used my account. I tried searching the IP address that it came from and haven’t had any luck. Daniel’s working on it now.”

Jack raised his eyebrows. “Daniel’s working on it?” 

“He has no idea what he’s doing, I just told them to stay inside,” she answered, sounding smug. 

“You go girl,” he said laughing softly. 

“So, years you say?” She asked mischievously. “How exactly did it go, when you thought about it?” 

“Mmm,” Jack said, rubbing a finger over her knuckles. “Mostly like yesterday, and then again and again. No leaving the bed required.”

“Not even for fishing?” She asked with mock incredulity. 

“No fishing needed.” 

She stood up and took the pole out of his hands and laid it down on the dock. 

“Guess you don’t need this then,” she said. 

She threw one leg over his legs and sat down, straddling his lap. She flipped a few loose hairs off his forehead before sliding her hands to the back of his neck and pulling him towards her. He shut his eyes as his lips met hers. He forgot all about his interrupted plans and wrapped his arms around her back pulling her tight into him. Her fingers were making lazy circles over the back of his neck and her teeth grazed his bottom lip, just slightly. He reached one hand up to tangle into her hair as her kisses became more urgent and desperate. 

“Please tell me you locked them inside,” he said into her neck. 

“Oh they’ll stay in there,” she said sliding a hand up and under his shirt. 

“What did you do? Threaten to take away their donuts?” He nipped at her ear. 

“Let’s just say if they value their lives they’ll stay in there.” 

“Thank god,” he groaned. 


	5. Chapter 5

Jack and Sam walked back to the cabin sometime later hand in hand. Jack’s former bad spirits had melted away in the sunshine and in the feel of Sam’s skin against his own. He realized that his staying in bed all weekend plan might have been premature. There was something to be said about the dock, even though he was fairly certain he now had a splinter in his backside. A small price to pay though, really. 

“Oh hi guys,” Daniel said looking up from his laptop as they walked into the room. “How was fishing? Catch anything?” He asked dryly. 

“Why yes I did Daniel,” Jack replied happily, dropping Sam’s hand to reach behind her and squeeze her ass. 

She threw him a smile while biting her bottom lip. 

“Really? How old are you?” Daniel muttered looking back at the laptop screen. “Never thought I would say this but thank god for the Air Force regulations that spared Teal’c and I from having to put up with this for the last nine years. 

“Could have stayed in Colorado, Daniel. Would have preferred you had.” Jack quipped, settling on the couch. “Where is Teal’c?”

“Making lunch.”

“With what? The only thing in there is beer and coffee.” Jack said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. 

“Oh he brought food. He learned the hard way not to plan on there being any actual food here that didn’t expire four years ago.” 

“Great, I’m starving.” Jack replied. 

Sam had pulled a chair over next to Daniel and was peering around his shoulder at the laptop screen. “Any luck?” she asked.

“Not really, but then again I don’t have a clue what I’m doing here.”

Sam’s eyes skimmed over the screen. “This is an archaeological report on the significance of currency in ancient Persian society.”

“Uh yeah,” Daniel said. “Got bored of the whole IP thing. That study is fascinating, by the way. Their theories on the socio economic fallout after the  Sasanian Empire collapsed are incredible. I think there is more to it though. I wonder if I could get on the next dig they have planned. Jack, can I take a sabbatical later this year?”

“Nope,” Jack said from the couch without opening his eyes. “Plus I thought you wanted to go to P4 somewhere.”

“Well, I do. Maybe afterwards,” he amended. 

“Okay, my turn.” Sam said, pulling the laptop away from him. 

“Hey!” Daniel protested. 

“Now, now, you two kids share. Don’t make me come over there!” Jack warned, eyes still shut. 

Teal’c emerged from the kitchen holding a pizza on a tray, steam still drifting lazily off the top. Jack sat up as the smell reached him. 

“Excellent, pizza!” he said rubbing his hands together. “Where’s my plate?” He looked at Teal’c expectantly who shot him a cold look. 

“This pizza is for my consumption O’Neill.”

“Seriously, you’re not sharing? You’re going to eat an entire pizza by yourself?”

“Have you met Teal’c?” Daniel asked. 

“There are more pizzas in the freezer, O'Neill,” Teal’c responded, sitting down at the table and picking up a slice. 

Jack stared at him for a long minute and Teal’c stared back, not breaking eye contact. Finally Jack threw up his hands and stood up. “Unbelievable!” He complained walking to the kitchen. 

‘Ooh, can you make me a veggie one Jack?” Daniel called after him.

“Make your own Daniel!” he yelled back. 

Jack slid a plate of pizza next to Sam. She absently picked up a slice and nibbled on the end without even commenting on the fact that it was fairly charred. He moved behind her and started massaging her shoulders. She leaned back in the chair and sighed contentedly. Daniel had already moved to the kitchen and Teal’c picked up the remainder of his pizza and walked over to the couch. 

“Still working on that email?” Jack asked as he very intentionally trailed a finger underneath the collar of her shirt. 

“Yes,” she said exasperatedly leaning forward again and Jack immediately regretted asking her. “I just wish I could figure out who did it and why.” 

“Maybe it was just a prank,” he suggested, shrugging his shoulders. “Probably Silar thought it would be funny to crash our weekend by sending Daniel and Teal’c up here.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “If this had come from the SGC I would know. The IP it was sent from was intentionally pinged off several servers which is making tracking it down almost impossible.”

“Maybe just best to let it go then?” Jack asked, reaching for her shoulders again and trying to pull her back towards him in the chair. “You could always work on it some more when we get back.” He knew the minute the words left his lips that it was pointless. If he had learned one thing about Samantha Carter over the last nine years, it was that she considered the seemingly impossible tasks to be a certain personal challenge. She couldn’t resist a puzzle, and once she was in she never gave up. He would have better luck dragging Daniel out of a bookstore. 

He leaned down and planted a warm kiss on her neck. “Okay, well whenever you’re ready for a break, come find me.” He heard her breath hitch in her throat as we walked away. He felt her eyes follow him across the room. 

Sam watched Jack walk away and was filled with the sudden desire to jump up and drag him into the bedroom. 

“Hey Sam!” Said Daniel from next to her causing her to jump. 

“Ah, hi Daniel,” she replied, blinking fast. 

He followed her gaze across the room to where Jack was disappearing into the bedroom. 

“Keeping an eye on Jack’s six?” he asked. 

“You know it,” she said, determined not to let Daniel embarrass her. 

“Want any pizza?” he asked. She looked at his perfectly cooked veggie pizza and then to her charred slice. 

Making sure Jack was safely out of sight she pushed her plate aside and grabbed the piece Daniel was offering her. 

“Thanks,” she said. “Anyway you could teach Jack how to cook? I mean, who can’t make frozen pizza?”

“Pretty sure it’s too late for that. I don’t think Jack understands that you can actually make food without burning it.” 

“Guess we’re just eating out for the rest of our lives then,” Sam said without thinking. 

Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Rest of your life huh? You guys in this for the long haul then?”

Sam felt her face reddening yet again and mentally cursed herself. “I...I don’t know. It’s just... just ignore that. I mean, it hasn’t even been that long,” she said defensively. 

Daniel’s face was completely serious as he patted the back of her hand. “Look, I know I’ve been giving you a hard time, but I’m happy for you, both of you. I know how long this has been coming, and I really can’t think of two people who are better for each other.”

“Thank you Daniel,” she said, touched. 

“But if you guys do end up tying the knot, I call being your maid of honor.”

She laughed. “I may have to fight Jack for you, but deal.”


	6. Chapter 6

After another hour of fruitless work Sam stood up and stretched her back. Jack hadn’t come back out, she thought as she eyed the closed bedroom door and cleared her throat. 

“Think maybe I’ll take a short nap,” she said to Daniel. 

“What?” He said looking up sharply. 

“Think I’ll grab a nap,” she repeated. 

“No I heard you, just don’t think I’ve ever heard the word ‘nap’ come out of your mouth before.” 

She opened her mouth to retort, then closed it again as she realized that he was probably right. She settled for shrugging and walking towards the bedroom. 

“Still sounded weird even though I know you’re not actually planning on sleeping,” Daniel called after her. 

“Feel free to go fishing!” She yelled back. 

He reached down to his laptop bag and rummaged around before extracting a pair of headphones. 

“Have a good nap,” he said, setting them on his head. 

Sam quietly entered the bedroom and closed the door carefully behind her again. Jack was laying across the bed face down with his head tucked into his folded arms. She took a minute to listen to his breathing. After eight years of off world missions together she could tell from the rhythm of his breathing whether he was asleep or not. 

Sitting down next to him she ran her nails gently across his back. She slid them up and over his neck into his hair, making tiny massaging circles over his scalp with her fingernails. He moaned in appreciation and she grinned. Slowly she dragged them back down his spine and over his ass. 

All of a sudden he had sat up, flipped her down onto the bed, and was laying on top of her looking down into her eyes. 

“Hi,” she said mischievously. 

“Waking me up from my nap Sam?” He growled. 

“Pretty sure you weren’t actually asleep,” she replied playfully. 

“Definitely could have been,” he whispered, leaning down to nip at her ear with his teeth. 

“Mm, yes sir,” she said, reaching up to twist her fingers into his hair and to pull his mouth from her ear into her own. 

She slid her tongue in between his lips and welcomed the warmth as he enthusiastically returned her kiss. Arching her back a little she pressed her hips into his. She wrapped one leg around his lower back pulling him ever closer. 

Harder, faster her tongue swirled and his hands that had slid under her were roaming all over, slipping up and under her shirt, raking down her back. 

“God Sam,” he groaned through her kisses. She had just slid a hand into the waistband of his pants when she suddenly gasped. 

“Yes, I know,” he was saying smugly as she sat up without warning, sending him sprawling to the side of the bed. 

“I’ve got it,” she said, eyes shining. 

“What the hell?” He said rubbing his nose. “Got what?”

“How to find IP address!” She said. 

“Great,” Jack growled. “Really brilliant, but I’m sure it can wait.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her back on top of him. 

As much as Sam was enjoying the way Jack’s bare chest felt against her back as she lay on her side cocooned up against him and the way he was lazily running his fingers up and down her arm, she couldn’t get her mind off the revelation she had had. He sighed contentedly and shifted his hand off her arm to settle it around her waist, essentially trapping her. 

“It’s driving you crazy isn’t it?” he whispered in her ear. 

“What?” she asked.

“Your idea, you haven’t run out to the computer and now it’s driving you crazy.”

“No it’s not,” she said hurriedly. 

He laughed softly. “Nice try Sam. I know you better than that.”

“Well, you drive me crazy too, you know,” she said, wriggling her hips into him. 

He brushed the hair off her neck and left a long kiss just under her ear. “I know,” he breathed. He pulled his arm off her midsection. “Go,” he said. “Figure it out. At least then my nose will be safe next time from any further lightbulb moments.”

She shivered a bit as the cold air brushed her skin that was suddenly away from Jack’s warmth. “Sorry about that,” she said, giving him a wry smile. 

“It’s who you are,” he said affectionately, “and that’s why I love you.” And he loved the way she smiled when he said those words. Different from her other smiles. He thought he knew them all, her teasing smile, her ‘I’ve just done something brilliant smile’, her patient smile. But this one was new, a beautiful surprise the first time she had flashed it at him. This one was just for him.

She slid off the bed and started getting dressed. He watched her, eyes tracing over every line, and it struck him yet again just how damn lucky he was.

“I think you owe me for the nose though,” he said. 

She raised her eyebrows. “Oh really?” she said teasingly. 

“Yes,” he said, leaning on one elbow. “To be decided later tonight.”

“Fair deal,” she said, slipping her shirt over her head. “You better take an actual nap then,” she added as she walked across the room, shot him a wink and slid out the door. 

“Daniel!” she called as she walked across the room. “I think I have an idea,” she said excitedly. She passed Teal’c who was laying on the couch, apparently asleep. Daniel was still sitting at the table, absorbed in a book. 

“Daniel!” she said again louder. 

“Huh?” he said looking up. He pulled the headphones off his head. “Hey Sam. Your shirt’s on inside out.”

“What?” she said, quickly looking down at the seams running down her arm. “It is not!” she exclaimed indignantly. 

He raised his shoulders and grinned at her. “Sorry, couldn’t help it.”

She shook her head and opened up the laptop. “You are seriously the worst. 

“You know you love me.”

She sighed. “You know I do.” She briefly leaned her head against his shoulder then straightened up again as the laptop came to life. 

“I had an idea,” she said, fingers flying across the keys. “It’s a long shot but if any of the servers pinged off our satellite, I should be able to narrow it down enough to hack in through a back door code.”

Daniel nodded along but his eyes had glossed over during Sam’s explanation. He looked over her shoulder as she scrolled through a very long list of numbers that meant nothing to him. Finally Sam clicked on one. “There,” she said excitedly. “It matches the time index of the email exactly. May actually have a shot at this now.”

She began typing again while occasionally muttering under her breath. Daniel had just picked up his book again and was flipping through when he heard her gasp softly.

“Shit!” she breathed. She hurriedly closed the laptop and stood up. 

“What?” he asked.

“We need to get out of here, right now,” she said urgently.

“What did you find out? What’s going on?” he asked, confused.

“No time! Wake up Teal’c, I’ll get Jack.”

She was halfway across the room when there was the sound of shattering glass. She whirled towards the window which was now lying in broken pieces across the floor to see a smoke grenade, which had been flung in, start spewing thick fog into the small room. 

_ Damnit!  _ She thought grimly to herself.  _ Too late.  _


	7. Chapter 7

Choking on the thick smoke Sam blindly stumbled around the room. 

“Daniel? Teal’c?” She called out. 

“Sam?”

“Colonel Carter?” 

She breathed out a quick sigh of relief and walked right into something solid. “Ow,” she complained as her shin impacted with what she thought was the table leg. 

“What the hell is going on?” Daniel yelled before dissolving into a coughing fit. 

There was another clank and even more smoke started pouring into the room. 

Sam’s eyes were watering and she tried blinking rapidly to clear them but the additional smoke made them itch and burn. 

“We need to get to Jack’s weapons and get out of here,” she called, her stomach beginning to heave from the smoke exposure. “Teal’c do you know where...” She started to ask but was interrupted by the splintering sound of wood. 

A faint beam of light streamed in through the door, which sounded as if it had just been kicked in. Sam squinted through the haze, several figures all holding rifles and wearing masks flew through the door silhouetted against the light. 

“Everyone on the floor now!” one of them yelled out. 

Sam hesitated and threw a wild look around the room. She still couldn’t see Daniel or Teal’c through the smoke. By the red laser lights dancing across her chest though she was sure they could see them. 

“Colonel Carter?” Teal’c voice sought her out, asking what they should do. 

She hissed frustratedly. “Do it,” she said. Slowly, trying to avoid banging into anything else, she slowly lowered herself down to the floor. 

She risked a look towards where she thought the bedroom door was, and her heart skipped faster.  _ Where was Jack? _ She thought anxiously. She couldn’t believe that he had slept through all the noise. He may have been able to sleep through a hurricane when he wanted to, but no way his special forces training was going to let him stay asleep while two grenades went off in his house. With any luck he was grabbing weapons and would be charging out here to take them all by surprise at any moment. 

The intruders were sweeping the small cabin. The occasional shout of “clear” echoed across the small space. Finally the bedroom door was kicked in and Sam tensed up in anticipation. A booted foot had remained inches from her head, and she knew better than to risk trying anything while she still could barely see. There was nothing though, no shouts, no weapons fire. No snarky comebacks. Was it possible that Jack somehow got out, she wondered. Either that or he had one hell of a hiding place somewhere in the cabin. 

The smoke was beginning to clear and she could make out Daniel lying on the ground next to the table. She didn’t see Teal’c but she knew he had to be there, most likely behind her, by the fireplace. Daniel gave her a questioning look and she returned his silent question with an almost imperceptible shrug of her shoulders. 

Several of the raiders had gathered together and Sam strained to hear what they were saying. 

“...Not here.”

“What do you mean not here?”

“We checked everywhere Sir, it’s not a large space. He’s not in here.”

“So you’re saying he got away even though we had the place surrounded,” the voice sounded dangerous, even through a gas mask.

“Maybe he was never here.”

“No, the recordings are rock solid. And we need him for the plan to succeed. Send two men to search outside.”

“Yes Sir.’ 

“In the meantime, perhaps we can see if any of our other guests know anything.” The figure swept his arm to indicate Sam, Daniel and Teal’c laying on the ground in front of him.

Jack watched through the slats of wood hanging above him and tried to resist the shiver that wracked through him. Standing in shoulder deep Minnesota water in a T shirt and flannel pajama pants underneath the dock where just hours ago he and Sam had been enjoying themselves was definitely not what he wanted to do today. Two figures had just walked past him and he slid lower in the water. He needed to get back into the cabin and get to Sam, Daniel and Teal’c. He needed a plan. 

He had been just drifting off to sleep after Sam had left the bed room when he was jerked awake by the sound of breaking glass. He almost ignored it, figuring Daniel had dropped a glass, again. But then there was a clunk and smoke had started to drift into the room through the crack underneath the door. He was on his feet in a heartbeat, and had his hand on the doorknob, ready to yank it open when he heard the sound of the door crashing in and the shouts ordering everyone to get down. 

He hesitated for a fraction of a second. As far as he knew Sam was out there. And Daniel and Teal’c. The urge to burst in and help them was almost too strong to resist. But barging into a room with an unknown enemy unarmed was never the best way to help anyone. 

Five second later he had thrown open the window in his room and was carefully peering out. A figure in black wearing a gas mask and holding a rifle rounded the corner of the cabin just as Jack looked through. There was no one else in sight and he knew he had to move. 

It was a bit of a tight fit but he managed to get through and silently drop to the ground. He glanced around, he was too exposed to try and make it to the tree line, but ten feet from the cabin was the dock. Closing the window quietly behind him he heard the sound of his bedroom door bang open. Keeping as low as he could he made it to the pond and slid into the water just as another unknown assailant came into view. He tried not to gasp as the frigid water took his breath away. 

He tried to rub some feeling back into his arms and chest as he watched and waited. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stay here long. Now that he was out the reality of what he had done hit him full force. He had left them in there. Left Sam. 

_ No.  _ He told himself firmly.  _ Get a weapon, make a plan, go back.  _ He kept repeating it as he struggled to stay warm.  _ Go back. Go back. _ That was all he had to do. Plan not necessarily required. 

Two men left the cabin through the front door that was currently hanging precariously on one hinge. The smoke had almost completely cleared the cabin and the intruders began removing their gas masks. 

Sam tilted her head slightly to the side to get a better view. From what she could see there were at least eight men in the cabin which made a total of ten including the two that had left. Not great odds, but they had faced worse. 

The man standing closest to the bedroom door who had ordered the search for Jack seemed to sense her eyes on him. He turned his head towards her and she could feel his eyes boring into her even though his mask was still in place. 

“Secure them,” he said, “ and let's get this on with this. General O’Neill couldn’t have gotten far. Not even the Asgard could have gotten him out of here.” 

Sam’s suspicions, that had been blaring in her mind since she was in the bedroom with Jack, were all but confirmed. If they knew about the Asgard, then they knew about the Stargate program. 

Sam's thoughts were interrupted as the man standing next to her roughly jerked her arms together behind her back. Plastic encircled her wrists and there was the shweet sound of a zip tie tightening binding them together considerably tighter than was necessary. 

A hand wrapped around her upper arm and yanked her to her feet. Her shoulder complained loudly in protest. The man half dragged her across the room to where Teal’c was being hauled up to his knees and then shoved her back down to her knees. She screwed her eyes up in pain as they impacted with the hard stone of the hearth in front of the fireplace. 

“Seriously?” She muttered under her breath. 

A second later Daniel was similarly pushed down next to her. 

“Ow!” He complained loudly. The men who had brought them over walked back over by the door to converse together. 

“You okay?” Sam whispered. 

“Yeah, I’m fine, you?”

“I’m okay.”

“Teal’c?” Daniel asked leaning forward slightly to see their friend kneeling on the other side of Sam. 

“I am unharmed Daniel Jackson.”

“Good. Okay, what the hell is going on here, who are these guys anyways?”

“They’re the Trust,” Sam said, sighing. 

“What?” Daniel said incredulously. “How do you know?”

“The IP address. When I finally tracked it down I realized it was from one of their servers that I thought we crashed earlier this year. I realized it right before they attacked.”

“Okay, fine, but what do they want?” Daniel asked. 

“I think we’re about to find out,” she said darkly as the man still wearing the mask came to stand in front of them. 


	8. Chapter 8

“Quite so Colonel Carter,” the man still wearing the mask said, voice distorted through it. “I am impressed, however, that you were able to identify us.” Several of the other intruders moved to stand around them, effectively fencing them all in.

Sam gave a small shrug that was limited by having her arms bound behind her back. “Wasn’t that hard,” she said lightly.

He chuckled. “No need to pretend, Colonel. The house is bugged, we know how long it took you to figure it out.”

Sam winced inwardly. How much had they heard?

“Perhaps you would have had better luck if you hadn’t been so… distracted,” he continued, voice laced with insinuation. 

She refused to give him the satisfaction of offering any reaction to his statement. “So, are you going to introduce yourself?” she asked, trying to change the topic while keeping her voice even. 

“Not just yet,” he said, beginning to pace back and forth. “It’s hardly necessary.”

“Ah, actually I’d really like to know.” Daniel spoke up. “You know who we are and you’ve obviously spent quite a bit of effort trying to get the four of us up here, so why don’t you tell us what you want?” One of the gunmen standing behind them pushed the muzzle of his weapon into Daniel’s shoulder in warning. 

“I’m the one asking questions here Doctor Jackson,” the man in front of them said. “And right now I have a problem. We know General O’Neill was here. Where is he now?”

Daniel and Sam looked at each other. “Do we know a General O’Neill?” He asked her.

“Don’t think I’ve ever heard that name before,” she answered. “But does it have one L or two?”

“I would think one.”

“Oh, well definitely not then.” She looked at Teal’c. “Teal’c you ever hear of this O’Neil?” 

“The name does not set any bells ringing,” Teal’c said stoically, but Sam heard the faint note of amusement in his voice.

“Anyway, sorry, who?” Daniel asked looking back up at the figure in front of them.

“Do I look like I am in the mood for playing games?” The man asked, examining his gloved hand.

“Uh yes? Wait no..” Daniel said hesitantly. “Is it no? Guys, what do you think?” he looked back at Sam and Teal'c. 

“It’s just so hard to tell when we can’t see your face,” Sam said. 

In a blink of an eye he stepped forward and smacked her across the face. The force of the blow knocked her off balance into the legs of another assailant standing behind her. Stars exploded behind her eyes as the other man pushed her back forward and onto her knees again. The leather of his glove had set her cheek on fire and she worked her jaw back and forth in an effort to quell the stinging. 

She felt both Daniel and Teal’c tense on either side of her. “I’m okay guys,” she said in a low voice. 

“Now,” the voice floated back down to her, “do you need more convincing that I am serious, or are you ready to tell me where General O’Neill is?”

It has been two minutes since Jack had last seen anyone pass by his hiding spot. His view through the boards was extremely limited. He couldn’t be sure they were actually gone. They might have disappeared into the woods, gone back inside, or they could be standing on the bank silently waiting for him. 

He couldn’t stay in the water any longer though. Drowsiness was beginning to sweep over him and there had been a second when he couldn’t remember where he was. In his mind he was back with Sam, trapped in a room that was rapidly flooding with frigid water on a sunken Ha’tak. Panic threatened to overtake him as he realized there was no way out and that he couldn’t save her. He was going to watch her die and there was nothing he could do. 

He stood up suddenly and slammed his head against the dock which brutally dragged him out of the past. Cursing silently he rubbed his head and prayed that no one had heard the sound. He was grateful for the shock back to reality though. Sam was still in the cabin. This time there was something he could do. This time he could save her. 

He submerged himself and slid out from underneath the dock. Slowly he raised his head out of the water just enough so that he could see the edge of the pond. There was no one in sight and with a couple quicks stroke he had reached the bank. There was no cover from the pond to the woods but there was nothing he could for it. 

Feeling weighed down by his soaking wet clothes he made a mad dash for the tree line. Once he was several hundred feet into the denser part of the forest he stopped to listen. There were no shouts, no signs of weapons fire or the crash of footsteps through the underbrush. He let out a silent sigh of relief and started to make his way through the trees to circle around to the front of the cabin. He needed to know what was going on in there. 

Sam tried not to shrink back as the gloved fist impacted her jaw. Not that there was anywhere to pull back to, one of the assailants held her firmly by the shoulders keeping her upright while the one in front of her shook out his hand. The man in the gas mask stood to the side watching, arms crossed. After backhanding Sam he had stepped back and let one of the other men take over. 

“We can keep this up all day,” he said. “Or one of you can tell me where General O’Neill is and we can end this now.”

Sam’s head was ringing. She could feel a large welt forming in her cheek where he’d hit her. The room had started to go a bit fuzzy around the edges and she wasn’t sure if she could keep herself upright without the man’s insistent grip on her shoulders. 

On her left side Daniel was sporting a spectacular black eye and on her right Teal’c's lip had split and was slowly dripping blood down his jaw. They both looked wary but defiant; a look she hoped she was projecting as well. 

“We told you already he’s in Washington, it was just the three of us here,” Daniel said. 

“And I told you that we had the house bugged,” the masked man said impatiently. “We know he arrived yesterday afternoon with Colonel Carter and has been here ever since.”

“Huh, that’s news to me,” Daniel quipped. He was rewarded with a blow to the jaw. Sam winced inwardly, but damn, she admired his audacity. 

Daniel’s eyelids started drifting shut and his head briefly rolled to one side. 

“So what is this?” she said to the masked man, desperate to get their attention off Daniel for a minute. “Can’t do the dirty work yourself? Have to get someone else to do it for you?” 

It was a dangerous play and she knew it. “Look, we don’t know where he is! And you haven't even told us what you want.” She said, raising her voice slightly. 

The masked man had stopped right in front of her forcing her to tip her head back to look up at his blank eyes and covered face. “They may not know, but I know you were the last one with him, and I have a hard time believing he would just leave without telling you,” his sneer was evident, even through the mask. He took a step back. “Bring her,” he commanded, with a flick of his finger over his shoulder. 


	9. Chapter 9

The man behind Sam wrapped his hand firmly around her upper arm and pulled her to her feet. She swayed a bit and her head pounded harder than ever, but she was determined to stay upright. 

“Where are we going?” She asked. No one answered, not that she had expected anyone to. She was jerked forward from between Daniel and Teal’c following the masked man who was walking towards the front door. She looked back over her shoulder at Daniel and Teal’c. The remaining attackers who were surrounding them had unholstered their weapons and had them pushed into the back of their heads. 

“Hey,” Sam called desperately towards the man in front of her. “Look, you were right. They don’t know where the General is. Just let them go and you and I can talk.”

“Uh Sam?” Daniel questioned from behind her sounding concerned. 

“It’s okay Daniel,” she said, trying to project confidence or at least sound like she had any idea of what the hell she was doing. 

“Oh,” the man in front said, turning to look at her. “That is exactly what we are going to do Colonel. But their lives are in your hands, and whether or not they live depends on how cooperative you are willing to be.” He reached the front door and yanked it open, the remaining hinge protesting loudly. He walked out onto the porch and the man holding Sam’s arm shoved her out after him. Sam heard the door close again as she stumbled and just barely kept her balance. She turned to glare at the masked face standing impassively next to her. “What the hell do you want from us? You went to an awful lot of trouble to make sure the four of us were all up here. And you can threaten us all you want but I know you want us alive or we’d already be dead and you wouldn’t be going to this much trouble to find him.”

“Excellent deductions. But it’ll be worth it.”

“You won’t find him, you know,” she said, trying to roll her shoulders to ease the ache her bound hands were putting on them. “Not if he doesn’t want you to find him.”

“I know that,” he said simply. 

Sam’s blood boiled at his words. “Then why the act back there? You’ve been monitoring the house since we got here, you know everything we know. Is this just about revenge for us taking you down?”

He chuckled. “You and the SGC may have thrown a wrench into some of our dealings, but you could never take us down. The Trust has a bigger plan than that. And as for the act…” he looked her up and down and she had the feeling his gaze was lingering over her battered face. “Well lets just say we had to put on a good show if we were ever going to flush out your precious General.”

He reached up and pulled the mask over his head revealing a freckled face she immediately recognized. 

“Malcolm?” she said disbelievingly. 

“Hi Sam,” the NID agent said, smiling at her. “What do you say you and I go for a walk?” 

Jack was trying to move silently through the trees which was difficult as water was not so much dripping as pouring off his soaking wet clothing. 

He looked around and then ducked down in a particularly dense patch of undergrowth. Slipping his shirt over his head he twisted it up tightly in an effort to wring as much water as possible from it. 

The shirt was far from dry but he still slid it back on. At least he was no longer dripping. He considered his flannel pants but he'd had enough of being caught pants-less this weekend and had no desire to do it again. He left them on and peered carefully out of the undergrowth. 

A snap of a twig caught his attention and he saw one of the gunmen slowly making his way through the trees. He was sweeping his weapon back and forth but gave no indication that he’d seen Jack. 

The General consisted for a moment. There were no reinforcements in sight, but there was a good chance there were others close by. His reflexes may have been dulled slightly by three years of being a desk jockey, not that he would ever admit it, but he still could take out one guy. 

He tensed up as the assailant neared his hiding place, he could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins as he waited for the right moment. 

3, 2, 1, he counted down in his head… and go! In the blink of an eye he had sprung out of the branches and had one hand over the man’s mouth to muffle his yells and the other arm hooked around his neck. He yanked him back and down into the brush with him. The man tried to struggle and his legs kicked out fruitlessly, but Jack could already feel him losing the fight. Within a minute he went limp and Jack lowered him the rest of the way to the ground. 

He grabbed the man’s gun, an AK. “Piece of crap,” Jack muttered as he checked the mag. He found an extra one in his vest and took it along with his radio. It was silent for now, but Jack knew the man’s disappearance wouldn’t go unnoticed for long. He looked up at the sun to check his direction and headed back to the cabin.  _ Weapon, check _ . He thought to himself.  _ Hang on, I’m coming Sam.  _

Malcolm had grabbed Sam’s arm just above the elbow and pulled her down the small steps, off the porch and into the open space in front of the cabin. 

“Malcolm, what happened to you?” She asked, trying to pull out of his grip which caused him to simply tighten his hold. “The NID said they’d broken Baal’s brainwashing. What are you still doing working for the Trust?” 

“I told you Sam, there was never anything wrong with me. How could they break brainwashing when it never happened?”

“So you’re just voluntarily working for them then?” she asked disbelievingly. “What was the plan then? Just to get us all up here for a fun reunion?”

“You don’t understand yet, but you will,” he said, stopping in the middle of the open area and turning to face her.

He blood turned icy as a sudden realization swept over her. “That’s their plan, isn’t it? To try and brainwash the four of us as well. They think they’ll get access to the SGC plus Washington and the Free Jaffa Nation.”

“Once you see it their way it all makes sense Sam, they just want to help Earth,” he said earnestly. 

“See, that’s how I know it isn’t you. The Malcolm Barret I know would never help them.”

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you thought.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not buying it. You're my friend and you would never do this voluntarily. You don’t have to do this Malcolm. You’re not one of them, we can help you.” She spoke firmly but inside she was worried. If the NID had failed to break the mind control but Malcolm had convinced them he had, was it even possible to get him back? They had to avoid letting the Trust mess with their minds at all costs. There was way too much at stake to compromise any of their positions. Especially if they didn’t even realize they were doing anything wrong. 

There was a crackle and she heard a disembodied voice say, “Sir?” Malcolm fished a radio out of his pocket and pressed the talk button with his free hand. 

“What’s going on?” he said.

“Sir, I can’t raise Johnson on the radio. He should have finished his patrol ten minutes again.”

“And there he is. Got you General,” Malcolm said triumphantly. “Fall back to the house,” he continued into the radio. “It’s just a matter of flushing him out now.”

“Yes Sir.” The radio went silent and he slid it back into his pocket.

“You really think he’s just going to come out and surrender to you,” Sam asked incredulously. 

“Yes, actually, I do. And you’re going to help me.”

“Not a chance in hell,” she said.

He sighed, reached under his jacket and pulled out a pistol from a shoulder holster. Still holding her arm with one hand tight enough to leave bruises he pushed the gun firmly into her ribs with the other. “Unfortunately Sam, you really don’t have any choice in the matter.”


	10. Chapter 10

The trees were thinning in front of Jack, indicating that he was closing in on the clearing in front of his cabin. He was suspicious of the fact that he hadn’t encountered any more of the gunmen in the forest. Clearly they had been searching for something and he had to assume that that something was him. The fact that they didn't seem to be looking for him any longer made him sure that they thought that he would come to them, and that had him worried. They had the three people most important to him in the world. He couldn’t help but think whoever had done this knew that fact.

He glanced at his watch, glad that he hadn’t taken it off before laying down for a nap. It was closing in on an hour since he had escaped from the cabin. A lot could happen in that time. He desperately hoped that Sam, Daniel and Teal’c were all still alive and unharmed. But he couldn't distract himself by thinking of any other alternatives. He would not accept the fact that he had finally started a life with Sam only to lose her. Here, of all places. 

He slipped his stolen AK over his shoulder then got down on his stomach and crawled through the few remaining feet of undergrowth towards the edge of the forest. Once he had a clear line of sight of the cabin but still far enough in to remain hidden, he quietly slipped the rifle off his back and pulled it into his shoulder. 

The previous owner of the weapon had been kind enough to mount a scope, not a very good one, he thought, annoyed, but at least it gave him a better view of what he was up against. There were figures moving around in the clearing in front of his cabin. Jack quickly looked through the scope. 

One of the figures was Sam. He slowly blew out the breath he had been holding since the cabin had been breached. She was still alive at least. He panned to her side to see the other person and he had to check twice to make sure that his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. It was NID agent Malcolm Barrett. Even through the shitty scope there was no mistaking the fact that he had a firm grip on her arm and a pistol pressed into her side. 

Jack pulled back, rubbed his eyes and looked through the lens again. It didn’t change a damn thing. His confusion over the whole incident mounted. Agent Barrett had helped SG-1 out on more than one occasion. He and Sam were even friends. What was he doing with a gun on her? He’d read the reports, he knew the agent’s role in helping the Ba’als escape the SGC. But the NID also reported that they had broken all Barrett’s brainwashing. 

“Sonofabitch,” he breathed out. 

“What’s your plan here Malcolm?” Sam asked, trying to sound nonchalant and ignore the cold metal that was digging painfully in between her ribs. “Did you bring me out here to shoot me?” The worry had wormed its way into her mind. How strong was the Trust’s hold on him? Strong enough to resist one attempt to break it. Would he actually do it? 

“As long as your precious General cooperates, no one will get hurt,” he said, peering into the treeline. 

“And if he doesn't?” Sam asked. “There’s no way of knowing if General O’Neill is even out there. He’s probably miles away by now. Your man could have just wandered out of radio contact.”

“Oh he’s out there,” Malcolm said, still looking intently into the forest. “He would never leave you behind.”

“Sure he would,” Sam said, mostly to keep him talking. “He’s probably calling for reinforcements as we speak.” 

“Nice try Sam, but even if he would, we both know there’s nowhere for him to go. That’s the attraction of this place, isn’t it? Far away from everything? You all made it too easy.”

Annoyingly, Sam knew he was right. Jack’s loathing of anything technological at his sanctuary meant there was no way he had escaped with a phone, or even a radio.

“What do you see in him anyway?” Malcolm said suddenly, turning to her. 

“What?” she replied. 

“Jack O’Neill, what’s the attraction?”

“I am not talking about this with you,” she said crossly. 

“Is it just because he’s a General? Is that it? I mean, he’s gotta be what, more than 10 years older than you?”   
“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me, why him?” His face was inches from hers. She tried to slide away but his fingers had tightened around her arm so much that it was losing feeling and the gun was shoved even harder into her side causing her to wince. 

“Back off Malcolm, this isn’t you.” 

There was a snap in the forest and he looked up quickly, distracted, his face lighting up with a hungry expression that scared her more than anything. His eyes were dark, empty. Completely devoid of the warm, wry humor that she was used to seeing there.

“Ah ha!” he said softly. “Here we go.”

Dropping his grip on Sam’s arm but keeping the pistol firmly pressed against her he pulled the radio out of his pocket again. Her arm tingled as the feeling returned and she wished she could shake it out. 

Malcolm adjusted the dial and then spoke into the radio. “General O’Neill, I assume you’re out there and can see me. I also assume that you’ve taken out my man and are now in possession of his radio.”

He released the button and there was nothing but static. 

“I advise you not to play with me General,” he said again, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. “As I am sure you are able to see, I have your girlfriend,” he pronounced the word deliberately “and her life depends on you doing exactly as you’re told.” 

There was another moment of silence, then, “what the hell do you want Barrett?” 

Malcolm smiled slightly and twisted the gun slightly, causing Sam to flinch in pain. 

Jack’s voice came back over the radio and Sam closed her eyes in relief at the sound of it. “Barrett,” the General said, his voice hard and dangerous. “You listen to me. If you hurt her, if you harm her in any way so help me there is no where in this universe you will be safe from me. I will rip the stars open to get to you and when I do, you will wish you had never set foot here.”


	11. Chapter 11

“There is no need to be so dramatic, General. Just leave whatever weapons you stole from my man where you are, come out with your hands up, and no harm will come to her,” Malcolm said into his radio reasonably. 

“Don’t do it Jack!” she yelled out. “Get out of here.”

“Be quiet,” he snapped. With the hand still gripping her arm he shoved her down. Unprepared she went tumbling to the ground knocking and fell hard onto one of her shoulders which screamed in protest as she tried to shift her weight off of it. She shook her pounding head and looked up at Malcolm, silhouetted against the sun, who was now gripping his pistol in both hands and pointing it at her head.

Jack was watching through the scope as Barrett almost carelessly pushed Sam down and away and watched her crumple to the ground. He could see the look of pain that crossed her face. He felt the world go red and he felt his blood boil at the instant fury that engulfed him. There was yelling and it might have been him. He wanted to throw the rifle, run into the clearing and rip the other man limb from limb for hurting her. He would bury his fist into his face over and over and over. 

He seized control back by his fingertips, before it completely deserted him.  __

He focused back through the scope and saw that Barrett had the pistol pointed at Sam’s head now as she lay still in a heap on the ground.  _ Sam, think of Sam _ , he told himself as he sucked in a breath. If he simply ran out there there was a good chance that Barrett would kill her, and he couldn’t live with that. 

Malcolm looked at the gun in his hand and he looked at her. “Sam?” he asked uncertainly, a flicker of warmth flashed in his hard cold eyes. 

“Malcolm,” she said urgently. “Malcolm it’s me, Sam. I know you’re still in there somewhere. You don’t have to do this. Fight it!” 

His hands trembled for a second on the grip of the pistol and he twisted his head to the side. 

Jack’s voice was yelling out of the radio. “Barrett! Barrett!!” 

“Malcolm, remember, we’re friends. The Trust are lying. You don’t work for them,” Sam tried again. 

Confusion and pain were etched in his features. “I don’t,” he whispered. “I can’t.”

“You can, you can walk away. Just us go, help us and we’ll all walk away together.” 

His hands shook harder and he rubbed his face frantically, still pointing the gun at Sam. “No, no!” he said his voice tight. 

“Just drop the gun Malcolm,” she said, forcing her voice to remain calm. 

“Stop!” he yelled, and Sam wasn’t sure if he was talking to her, or to whatever battle was raging inside his mind. His finger tightened on the trigger. 

“Malcolm don’t do this!” she tried one more time. 

There was a sound from the forest, he swung the gun wide, frantically peering into the trees.

“What are you planning, O'Neill?” he shouted out. “If you care about her don’t try anything.” He was sweeping the gun back and forth and Sam couldn’t help but think something in his mind had finally snapped. 

He swept it towards her again, yelling “O’Neill!” He took a step backwards, stumbled, his hand flew up and the sound of a shot echoed in the clearing. 

Once before a shot had shattered Jack’s life into a thousand pieces. It was also the last time he could remember being completely and utterly terrified. It seized him now, the dread, the needing to know but at the same time wanting desperately not to know. Because what if it had happened again? What if he had lost the one person who now meant more to him than anyone else? The one who he had spent the last six years thinking and dreaming about. The one for whom he’d rather die than lose.

He couldn’t tell what was going on. He could see Sam talking, and then Barret had started waving his pistol around, towards the forest, then inches from Sam’s head. Jack heard the agent yelling. He couldn’t just shoot him, as much as he wanted to. Not with Sam’s life in the line of fire. He would just walk out there but he had no guarantee that Sam would be okay if he did.

Barret had stepped in front of Sam, and Jack heard the gun go off. Then everything was black and he hadn’t even realized it was because he had squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He forced them open. He had to know. Malcolm had somehow ended up on the ground and there was Sam, still partially upright, but even at this distance he could see the blood beginning to pool under her leg. Relief slammed into him, almost knocking the air out of his lungs filled with a return of the fury, even greater than before. While last time it had burned white hot, this time it was cold and deliberate. The desire to rip the other man apart was still there, but while before it would have been a reaction, this time it would be revenge. 

Sam heard the sound, but it took her mind a long moment to catch up to the fact that she was the one who had been shot. Malcolm had shot her. A second later her brain registered the pain that was shooting fire up her leg and she gasped out loud. 

She was able to twist her head enough to see the blossom of blood that was quickly soaking through her jeans halfway up her thigh. Instinct wanted to carry her hands to put pressure on it to stem the flow but they were still firmly zip tied behind her back. 

Her head was swimming and she gritted her teeth trying to fight for her hold on consciousness. The pain throbbed with every breath she took. She shut her eyes, took several shallow breaths and tried to keep the world from sliding out underneath her. 

She heard Jack’s voice over the radio. It had fallen out of Malcolm’s pocket and was now lying on the ground a foot from her legs. His voice was muffled but she could still make it out. “You shouldn't have done that. I told you not to hurt her.” She had expected him to yell and rage, but his voice was deadly calm, and sharp as a dagger. It was enough to send a chill up her spine. 

“Jack,” she whispered.


	12. Chapter 12

Sam looked at the gun, into the trees and back at Malcolm. He was shaking his head as if he wasn’t quite sure what had happened to him. He straightened up and caught sight of her.

“Sam?” he glanced down at the bullet wound in her leg and frowned. “Sam, what happened?” Jack’s voice was still coming through the radio and she hesitated for a fraction of a second. He looked at it and she saw it, as if a door slammed shut behind his eyes and once again he was gone. 

She risked shooting the tree line one more glance and prayed that Jack was still watching. She scooted several inches across the ground ignoring her leg that screamed in protest and kicked the pistol as hard as she could towards the tree. 

She knew Malcolm guessed what she was going to do before she even moved, his eyes narrowed and he dived towards her knocking her back down in his mad scramble to get back to his gun. 

Jack was on his feet, rifle at his side, ready to screw any plan he might have had in mind in his desperation to get to Sam. He saw her glance at the tree line and even though he wasn’t looking through the scope, he knew she was trying to tell him something. 

He saw her move and he started running. He had cleared the trees before the gun went spinning across the grass but he was still yards away and Barrett was already crawling towards it. His bad knee was threatening to buckle under him, but he didn’t slow, he was almost there. 

Time slowed as Sam saw Malcolm’s hand close over the grip of the pistol and he turned to point it at her just as Jack came tearing across the field and slammed into the other and the two of them went sprawling to the ground.

The rage that had been building and Jack since he first saw Sam and Malcolm through the scope had boiled over. He flung his control to the wind as he frantically ran across the grass to get to Sam. 

They had gone down hard, Jack heard the agent’s head impact with the hard ground. The force had knocked the gun from his hand again and sent it sailing several feet away. His hands raked through the grass trying to grab for it, but Jack pinned him to the ground, weighing him down. Jack buried his fist into the agent’s face, enjoying the feel of his skin giving way against his knuckles and the satisfaction it gave him. Then again, and again, just as he had envisioned. It was cathartic. He heard Sam yelling but he couldn’t make himself stop. 

“Jack! Jack stop!” Sam yelled urgently. He was either ignoring her, or was so enraged that he couldn’t even hear her. She tried to slide over to him, but her injured leg was making it difficult. “Sir!” she tried desperately one more time. He paused for a second, fist in the air. 

“Sir, stop please. That’s not him, he’s been brainwashed.” 

“Don’t give a damn, he shot you Sam,” Jack said, voice laced with fury. 

“I know,” she said. “I know he did. But that’s how I know that wasn’t really him. Look, he would never actually do it.”

For a moment she thought he was going to continue pummeling the other man, but he finally lowered his fist, and climbed off the NID agent, who groaned faintly as blood ran freely from his nose down his face. “I’m not sorry about that though,” he said, waving vaguely down. “Brainwashed or not, bastard deserved it.”

“Yes Sir,” she said, sounding amused despite everything. 

He hurried over to her and knelt down next to her, his gentle hand slid under her back and carefully eased her up, off her aching shoulder. Relief was still washing over him over the fact that she was still sitting here in front of him. That had been close, maybe too close. But he couldn’t focus on what he had almost lost right now. He looked her over. What he hadn’t been able to see through the scope was the large welt on her cheek and the beginnings of a black eye.

He walked over to her and looked her over. 

“Sam,” he whispered, running a thumb gently across her face. Regret filled him at what had happened. “I’m so sorry Sam.”

“Not your fault,” she whispered back.

“I never should have left,” he said, sounding frustrated. 

“Jack,” she said. She tried to put it all in his name. That she understood, that he hadn’t done anything wrong and that there was no blame to be cast. He must have felt it, even though she knew he wouldn’t completely accept it, because he looked her in the eyes and brushed a loose piece of her hair off her battered and bruised face. 

“I love you,” he said. 

“Love you too.”

He was here. Sam just wanted to close her eyes and lean against him. His mere presence seemed to ease some of the aching pain that was threatening to consume her. She took a deep breath and savored his familiar smell and the way it made her feel. Even if they were the furthest thing from it, he was safe. He was home. 

Jack had fished a knife out of the unconscious Barrett’s pocket and cut the tie off Sam’s hands. She tried to rub some feeling back into her wrists that had been rubbed raw. 

“Okay,” Jack said as he used another tie to secure the other man. “What’s going on here? Why is a NID agent and a bunch of thugs invading my cabin?”

“It’s the Trust,” Sam answered. “They’re the ones who brainwashed Malcolm and that’s why they want the four of us. Once they can control us, they’ll have spies in the highest levels of Stargate Command.”

Jack’s blood ran cold. “Sam,” he said. “Where are Daniel and Teal’c? It wasn’t that he had forgotten about them, but in his rush to keep Sam safe, they had slipped from the forefront of his mind. 

“Still in the cabin,” she said urgently

“Shit,” he hissed. “I need to get them out.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this chapter so many times and I'm still not completely happy with it, but didn't want to sit on it any longer. I may still come back to it, but for now here it is. Any issues or errors are my own.


	13. Chapter 13

“I need to get them out,” Jack said.

“You mean we need to get them out,” Sam retorted. 

“Sam…” he started. 

“No Jack,” she said, sticking her chin out, “don’t even suggest that I just stay here. You’re going to need help.

He sighed, he knew from experience that there was no point in arguing with her. 

“How’s the leg?” He asked. 

“Still shot,” she replied. “But I can do this.” He smiled, god he loved her. For a moment he was seized with the mad desire to just scoop her up and get her far away from here. He quickly brought himself back to reality thinking of Daniel and Teal’c. They were still in danger which meant they still had a job to do. 

“Alright,” Jack said. “Let’s see what we can do about your leg.” Quickly he ripped off the bottom few inches of his shirt and wrapped it around Sam’s leg as she leaned up against his side. The bleeding had slowed down, but he didn’t know what they were about to get into, and didn’t want to risk her losing any more blood. She grunted as he tied it off. 

“Sorry,” he said quickly. 

She had her eyes squeezed tightly shut and he blew out a long breath. “That’s okay,” she managed to get out through clenched teeth. 

“You alright?” he asked, knowing as he said it that it was a stupid question. 

She nodded and straightened her leg out experimentally. It still hurt like hell but she was able to move a little bit better. “Yep,” she confirmed.

“How many others are in there?” he asked. 

“Eight.”

“Not great,” he admitted, “but if Teal’c and Daniel can take a few out I think we’ll have a shot.”

He got to his feet and walked the few steps to where Malcolm’s pistol was sitting in the grass. He dropped the magazine out of the grip and quickly counted the remaining bullets. There were only seven left, which did nothing to improve their odds. He slid the mag back in as he walked back to Sam.

“I left an AK in the forest,” Jack said. “If I can get it, that should give us a leg up.”

“You actually touched an AK47?” Sam asked. “I seem to remember you calling them, ‘worthless shit that isn't worth the materials they’re made from’.” 

“Ha ha,” Jack said. “Have I ever mentioned how much I love the fact that you remember everything I say all the time? But right now it’s the best we have.”

“Go,” she said.

It took him just a couple minutes to return to the spot in the forest where he had dropped the rifle. He jogged back to Sam who had spent the time rummaging through the unconscious Barrett’s pockets. 

“Found us some toys,” she said, showing him a flashbang. 

“Nice!” 

“Help me up?” she asked. 

Jack walked around behind her as she slowly pulled her uninjured leg in and making sure she would be able to put all her weight on it, she took a deep breath and nodded at Jack. He slid his hands up and under her arms. 

“One, two, three.” he counted. He carefully pulled her upright as she pushed on her leg and a second later she was standing next to him. She squeezed her eyes shut and blew out a slow breath. 

“Sam you okay?” he asked, concerned,

She nodded, stubbornly defiant as always. 

“What’s the plan Sir?” she asked, opening her eyes, suddenly all business.

“We’ll get on the porch, toss in the flashbang and I’ll go in as soon as it goes off. With any luck the guys will help me out.”

She shook her head. “There’s no way we’ll make it through the front door against eight of them,” she argued, ignoring the fact that he hasn’t said anything about her going through the front door as well. “We need multiple flanks.”

“We’re not splitting up Sam,” he said. 

“It’s not a good plan and you know it,” she said, crossing her arms. 

He’d be damned if he left her again and something happened, but he knew she was right. 

“Sam,” he started. 

“Jack,” she interrupted. “We’re not running missions together anymore, so we haven’t had to cross this bridge. But we can’t change the way we operate just because we’re you and I are together and you’re trying to protect me.”

And here he thought he was being subtle. 

“We were a team for over seven years, and we made a damn good one,” she continued. “Right now we need to go back to that, and the best plan is the one that gets Daniel and Teal’c out alive. Now, if I take the porch can you get back in the way you got out?”

He clenched his jaw tightly, at war with himself and still filled with self loathing over the fact that he had left the cabin earlier and that she got hurt. Now he wanted to do everything he possibly could to protect her even if it went against the best tactical decision. He was tempted to just order her to do it his way. After all, he did still outrank her. But he knew she would never forgive him. And if there was one thing he had learned over the years it was that as much as he wanted to, Sam Carter didn’t need anyone to protect her. “Yes,” he said tightly. “I’ll go back through the bedroom window. You get back on the porch, once I’m ready you toss in the flash bang and I’ll take them out.” He handed her the pistol and the grenade and she nodded in thanks. 

“Let’s go get our boys,” Jack said.


	14. Chapter 14

As soon as Sam was out of his sight, Jack regretted letting her go alone. She could barely walk and considering how many blows to the head she must have taken, there was a good chance she had a concussion as well.

The only thing he could do now was to get to Daniel and Teal’c. The sooner he neutralized the threat, the sooner he could get back to her. 

He had circled the cabin, the opposite way from Sam, staying low and as close to the wall as he could. He didn’t like going up against a hostile threat in nothing but his soaking wet pajamas and a stolen rifle, but there really was no choice. What he would have given for his old P90 back though. 

Reaching his bedroom window yet again he was glad that he had left it open just a crack. He was able to wedge his thumb in and raise it up, ever so slowly, ears on high alert for any sign that he’d been detected. 

He also wasn’t crazy about the fact that he would be completely vulnerable for the few seconds it would take him to scramble up the rough log wall, but as with everything that had happened today, no one had asked his opinion. 

Threading his arm through the strap on the rifle, Jack slung it onto his back, grabbed the window ledge in both hands and pulled himself up for a brief look inside. Blessedly the room was empty. Even better the door to the main room was almost completely closed, but just slightly ajar.

It was now or never he thought. He scrambled up as quickly as possible, squeezed through the open window and landed in an undignified, but at least silent, heap on the ground. He didn’t give himself any time to recover and in a heartbeat had the rifle pulled tight into his shoulder and pointed at the door in case anyone heard something and came to investigate. 

He lowered himself down to the ground and crawled towards the door, swinging wide to avoid the squeaky floorboard at the end of his bed. He finally reached the door and peered through the crack. He could just make out Teal’c and Daniel kneeling in front of the fireplace. By the look of them they hadn’t fared any better than Sam. Daniel’s left eye was almost completely swollen shut, and there was blood staining the front of Teal’c shirt. There were three men standing behind them and two more on the couch. That left three more that he couldn’t see. 

He decided to risk tipping them off. He waved his hands back and forth, and he was almost certain that Teal’c had caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye, but his impassive face gave away nothing. He pointed towards the front of the house, and mimed an explosion with his hands. Teal’c head inclined a fraction of an inch. Not much but hopefully he had gotten the message. He settled in to wait for Sam to get into position. 

Sam leaned against the side of the cabin and took a deep breath, trying to keep her focus. She wasn’t about to admit just how hard her head was pounding and how much her leg was throbbing. How all she wanted was a handful of painkillers and to sleep for a day. Preferably in Jack’s arms. 

He must have known, he knew her well enough. But he still let her go. He didn’t want to, she had seen it in his eyes, she recalled wryly. Above everything else though he trusted her. And she was not about to let him, or Daniel and Teal’c down. 

She slipped around the corner of the cabin, and lowered herself down onto the front porch. Her injured leg screamed in protest, but it was only a few feet to the broken window where the Trust agents had thrown in the smoke bombs what felt like days ago, even though she knew it had only been a couple hours. 

Slowly she crawled, clenching her jaw to keep from yelling out. The whole porch threatened to upend her as she resolutely put one hand in front of the other. The distance had stretched out, she was never going to make it. The blackness at the edges of her vision started to close in and her stomach heaved. 

_ No,  _ she screamed in her mind.  _ Almost there.  _ She pushed back the darkness through sheer determination and finally, finally, hand over hand, she looked up to see that she was right underneath the window. 

She sat upright and collapsed against the wall panting. She wanted to rest, just for a moment. But she was sure that it had already taken her much longer than it should have to cross the porch and the longer she waited, the greater chance Jack had of being discovered inside. 

She pulled Malcolm’s radio off her waistband and clicked it two times. She heard the sound echo inside as everyone’s radio’s went off at once. There was yelling but she didn’t take the time to listen, pulling the pin out of the flash bang she tossed it in then hunched over, closed her eyes as tightly as possible, covered her ears and waited. 

_ What was taking Sam so long?  _ Jack thought, trying not to count the seconds since they had separated. It should only have taken a few minutes for her to cross the porch. With only one radio, they had settled on her taking it, and clicking in on the wide band frequency. With any luck, he’d be able to hear it from inside. 

He knew all too well that this wasn’t exactly a foolproof plan. Sam had a whole slew of injuries to contend with and he was still in his pajamas for crying out loud. He could feel the panic rising in his chest and he fought to shove it back down. There was no sounds or indication that she’d been recaptured. And it was Sam, she could handle herself. She had never let him down before.

He could hear sounds over the radio clearly from the other room, two clicks, just as they’d planned. Relief poured into him, as shouts broke out, but he’d told her not to wait, so he covered his head as he heard something clunk onto the floor in the other room. 

He thought he heard Teal’c yell something just before it went off and light flooded through his closed lids and the sound sent his ears ringing loudly. 

He gave it half a second before he was on his feet. He swung the door open and blazed into the room rifle sweeping wide, identifying hostiles as he went. They were still blinded and fumbling around and he dropped three before they even realized what was going on. 

“Jack!” he heard Daniel yell, giving him just enough warning to drop to his knee behind the couch just a bullet flew past where his head had been a moment before. He heard a shot, and a grunt, before there was clatter and Jack popped his head up to see that Teal’c had wrestled the shooter down to the ground.

_ Four down, four to go,  _ he thought to himself as he scanned the room. A shot came from the kitchen and he ducked back down again. 

“Teal’c!” he yelled. There was the sickening crunch of what sounded suspiciously like bone being shattered. 

“Yes, O’Neill?” Teal’c yelled back.

“Kitchen!” he yelled as another shot was fired his way. Two quick shots in quick succession followed by the sound of two dull thuds told him Teal’c had found a weapon and taken out two more assailants that were in the kitchen. 

_ That just leaves two,  _ he thought. He was beginning to think they were going to pull this off after all when out of nowhere one of the remaining agents popped up from the floor and began running towards the front door, firing wildly as he went. One of the bullets hit the remains of the already shattered front window and blew the remainder of the glass outwards, to where he knew Sam was concealed on the porch. 

“No!” he yelled, standing up from behind the couch. He didn’t care that he’d given up his cover, he didn’t even think that there were still hostile forces in the room. He was terrified that Sam had gotten hit again and yet again it would be his fault. 

He had to get to her, it was the only thought in his mind. He dropped the man right before he reached the door and was starting towards it when he felt the muzzle of a gun in his back.

_ Shit,  _ he thought.  _ One left. _


	15. Chapter 15

“Drop it!” the man ordered. Jack was breathing hard. He could see Teal’c standing across the room, his borrowed weapon pointed towards Jack and the remaining agent. 

“I said, drop it! Both of you!” the man said louder, jamming his weapon in even harder. 

Teal’c looked at Jack, searching his face. Jack gave a slight jerk of his head, and Teal’c slowly bent down to put his gun to the ground. Jack followed suit a second later and slowly raised his hands. 

“Daniel?” he called out. “You okay?” 

The archaeologist emerged from the floor by the fireplace. One of the lenses of his glasses was cracked and they hung at an odd angle. “Oh yeah,” he said slowly standing. “This was fun.”

“Hands on your heads, all of you,” he ordered. Jack moved to comply and saw Daniel and Teal’c do the same. So much for getting them all out. His heart raced as he thought of Sam. He surreptitiously tried to peer through the window but couldn’t see anything. 

“Now then, that’s much better,” the man was saying smugly. He twisted the gun into Jack’s back and grabbed his arm with the other hand. “Let’s…” but he never finished his sentence. A bullet blew past Jack’s ear, only inches away, before impacting the other man’s head and he slumped to the floor, dragging Jack down as well.  _ What the?  _ He wretched his arm out of the fallen man’s now slack grasp and climbed warily back to his feet. Jack looked around the room wildly, then towards the open window. “Sam,” he breathed. 

The shooting had started and Sam had tried to keep her head down. She knew she didn’t have the position or the ammo to make much of a difference. 

There was shouting, but amidst the weapons firing, it was hard to tell what was being said. She desperately wanted to look through the open window and see what was going on. Jack had gone in against eight assailants, and there was no telling what shape Teal’c and Daniel would be in. Not great odds. 

Gradually the number of weapons being fired trailed off. She chewed her bottom lip, hoping this was a good sign. If they’d been compromised or,  _ don’t even think it _ , shot, surely the firefight would have stopped altogether? 

She couldn’t take it any longer, couldn’t stand not knowing and she risked raising herself up a few inches to peek up and over her shoulder into the room. She thought she caught a glimpse of Jack pinned down behind the couch, but before she could raise her pistol, a Trust agent locked eyes with her and began running towards the door. 

_ Shit!  _ She thought ducking down again. Mentally she continued cursing herself. She had just become a liability instead of an asset, and she knew better. 

A bullet impacted the glass still left in the frame and whistled past her ear. It shattered down and she threw her arms up over her head as it rained around her. 

There was another yell, a shot and everything was silent. Cautiously she slowly pulled her arms down. Blood ran down from a gash above her elbow, but she could tell it wasn’t deep and she ignored it for now. 

Maybe they had done it. She was about to sneak another look through the window when she clearly heard a voice from inside say, “drop it!” She knew immediately it wasn’t one of her guys. 

She heard Jack’s voice, then Daniel’s. Thank god they were still alive. She had to see what was happening. Slowly, trying to avoid making a sound on the creaky porch, she shifted to her knees and raised her head up to look inside. 

Within a second she saw Daniel and Teal’c, sanding in the room, hands on their heads, otherwise unharmed. She felt the breath leave her lungs though as she saw what seemed to be the one remaining Trust agent with his pistol pointed firmly into Jack’s back. 

Her heart hammered hard in her chest as she sunk down and considered her options. She had no doubt the guys could take on one man, but with his entire team down, she couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t just cut his losses and shoot them all. On the other hand, if she tried to take him out and missed she would give away her position and there was a good chance he would kill Jack. 

She was running out of time and she had the perfect line, if they moved she would lose it. Making up her mind she steadied her pistol in her shaking hands against the window frame and sighted down the barrel. He was so close to Jack and the room was dim. If she was just an inch off…

_ Don’t think it.  _ She told herself, blinking hard.  _ You can do this.  _ She squeezed the trigger. 

Time stretched out as the bullet flew across the room. She couldn’t see where it impacted and both men went falling to the floor. 

The world stopped spinning underneath her knees and the sound of a rushing waterfall filled her ears. She’d missed.  _ Oh god Jack. What did I do? _

Jack looked wildly around the room. “You guys okay?”

“Go,” Daniel said, inclining his head towards the window. “We’re fine.”

Jack nodded gratefully and ran towards the door, hopping over a fallen agent on his way and yanking it open. It barely budged on it’s broken hinges and he had to pull harder before it finally gave way. He looked down the porch and there she was, huddled against the wall under the window, still clutching the pistol. 

“Sam,” he called, relieved. She didn’t move.

He skidded down the porch and dropped to his knees next to her. 

“Sam,” he said again gently. 

Blinking, she looked up at him. 

“Jack?” she said wonderingly. 

“It’s me,” he said, slowly peeling her fingers off the handle of the gun.

“But I thought I...” she trailed off. 

Jack realized what she must have thought. He gently cupped her chin in his hands and lifted it so that her eyes met his. “I’m fine, just got dragged down. That was a hell of a shot Sam. We all owe you.”

“Oh god Jack,” she threw her arms around his neck and he pulled her in as tightly as he dared without hurting her. 

They rocked back and forth for a few minutes, neither wanting to ever let go. Finally, reluctantly, Jack eased his grip. “Okay Sam,” he said. “Let’s say we get you out of here and fixed up. She nodded silently and he carefully helped her to her feet. 

Daniel and Teal’c emerged through the open door.

“Sam!” Daniel said brightly, catching sight of her, then frowning as he looked her up and down. “Uh, what happened? Are you alright? Did you get shot?” Who shot you? Was it you?” He asked, looking at Jack. 

“No I didn’t shoot her!” Jack exclaimed angrily. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Well you’ve shot me before.” 

“And for good reason!” 

Sam swayed to the side slightly, and Jack lowered her into one of the chairs on the porch. 

“We need to get her out of here and to a hospital as soon as possible,” Jack said. “Can we get her in the car and to the hospital?”

“We just called Landry,” Daniel answered. “The Odyssey is in orbit, so he’s having a mop up crew beamed up and back down.” He looked at his watch. “They should be here any minute.”

“Nice,” Jack said. “Wait, how did you call him?” 

“Oh, uh Sam had a phone in her bag,” Daniel said somewhat guiltily. 

Jack had never been so happy that she hadn’t listened to him and his stupid no technology rule. 

“Can you call him back up again, have him beam Sam and I directly back to the SGC?” 

“Sure,” Daniel said, heading back inside. “Want me to call you a cleaning company while I’m at it?” He yelled back as the door completely fell off its hinges onto the porch with a loud crash. 

“Only if they have security clearance Daniel!” Jack hollered after him. 


	16. Chapter 16

Daniel disappeared into the house just as a bright light flared in the front yard and Cameron Mitchell, Vala, and SG-3 appeared on the front lawn. Spotting Jack on the front porch, Cam ran across the grass, took the short steps in one large bound and offered the General a crisp salute which was halfheartedly returned. 

“General O’Neill,” Cam said. He took in Sam sitting next to him, and the scene of mayhem inside the cabin. “What the hell happened here?” He asked, sounding very confused. “Landry didn’t give us any details. Who are the guys and what did they want? Sam are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she said, sounding anything but. “They’re with The Trust.”

“What?”  
“It’s a long story Colonel,” Jack said to him. “But right now I need to get Colonel Carter back to the SGC. Daniel and Teal’c can bring you up to speed. You and your team have this under control?”

“Of course Sir. Wait, did you say Daniel and Teal’c?”

“Good,” Jack answered, ignoring his question.

“Hi Mitchell,” Daniel said, re emerging from the cabin. 

“Jackson,” Cam said, looking bewildered again. “What are you doing here?”

“Ah, team weekend,” Daniel answered. 

“Team weekend…” Cam said slowly, looking at each of them in turn. “What team? Our team? But Vala and I... Oh I get it. It’s a joke, right?”

Jack cleared his throat loudly interrupting his questions. “Colonel,” he said, tipping his head to indicate the cabin.

“Oh. Right. Vala!” he yelled. “Let’s go!”

Vala who had been talking to one of the members of SG3 while twirling a strand of her hair around her finger and laughing loudly looked up, rolled her eyes and followed him up and into the cabin. 

After they had gone in Daniel leaned over to Jack. “By the way, Cam does not know.”

“Know what?”

“About you and Sam.”

“Ah. Really?”

“Yep. We keep waiting for him to figure it out, hasn’t happened yet. Teal’c and I have a bet on how long it will take. Two more weeks and I win. So, if you don’t mind, not mentioning anything to him about it?”

Jack just stared at him. “Seriously, what is wrong with you?” he asked again.

Daniel opened his mouth to retort but he never got it out before Jack and Sam were scooped up in another flash of light that beamed down from the sky. 

Jack hadn’t wanted to leave Sam alone in the infirmary, but Dr. Lam had kicked him out on account of his hovering. He had left reluctantly, grumbling under his breath the whole time. He still wasn’t used to the new CMO, and while he was sure that she was an excellent doctor, the SCG infirmary hadn’t been the same the last few years. 

It was just one of the many changes that made the SGC feel like a different place, he thought to himself as he wandered down the corridors that he had spent countless hours in over the last nine years. He took the elevator down to see Landry in his old office. Even after a year in command of the base himself though, he still thought of it as Hammond’s office. 

“Jack!” Landry stood up and acknowledged him as he appeared in the doorway. “What can I do for you?”

“I ah…” Jack trailed off as he realized he didn’t have a reason for showing up in the other man’s office. 

Landry gestured to a chair and returned to his behind the desk. “Let me guess,” he said, settling in, “Carolyn sent you away and now you don’t know what to do with yourself.”

“Ah, yeah, that’s pretty much it.”  
Landry chuckled. “She’s a pistol. Carter too. I’m sorry about what happened. Colonel Mitchell should have a report to me fairly soon here and we’ll know more about what happened. I know it’s hard when a teammate is injured. Even a former one.”

“Teammate, yes.” Jack said absently. 

“Jack,” Landry’s eyes twinkled. “We’ve known each other a while, and I’d have to be blind not to see that she’s more to you than that.”

Jack looked up. “Hank,” he said haltingly.

“Don’t worry about it Jack,” he said waving a hand. “I know you two are wanting to keep it quiet, and that’s your business, but I want you to know that there are no issues with me. Colonel Carter is an incredible officer and I’m proud to have her serving here. She deserves every happiness, and from her smile when she thinks no one is looking the past few weeks, I’d say she found it.”

“Well, thank you,” Jack managed to get out.

“Of course. And just so you know, the official report for the incident in Minnesota will say that it was an original SG-1 reunion.”

Jack nodded and smiled. “Thanks again.”

“I’m sure it’s difficult, being across the country,” Landry continued, “especially when things like this happen and you’re not here.”

Jack sighed “More than I could have ever thought.”

The phone rang and Landry picked it up. After exchanging a few words he set it back and looked at Jack. “That was Dr. Lam, she says the surgery went well and you are welcome to see her.” 

Jack quickly stood up and walked towards the door. Landry followed him to the doorway “You know Jack, maybe it’s time to consider retirement. You could move back to Colorado and stop by the SGC anytime. I would always welcome an old man’s advice.”

“A tempting offer,” Jack said dryly. 

Hank stuck out his hand and Jack shook it. “Go see her, we can talk more later.” Jack nodded, left the office and headed back down the corridor. 

Sam was drifting in between unconsciousness and waking. The last thing she remembered they had wheeled her into the infirmary. She had caught sight of Jack, he had been holding her hand next to the gurney on the way down, but then they made him stay back and she locked his eyes for as long as she could before the door swung shut in front of him. There was worry there, and a look that made her think he was considering storming after her anyways. She wished he would have, she didn’t want to be alone. But then there was a mask over her face and everything had gone dark. 

Now she swam towards the light feeling warm, and comfortable, but she didn’t really want to open her eyes. She sensed a presence next to her and the closer she got to the surface of waking she realized that she felt a hand holding her own. She forced her eyes open and blinked at the bright light that flooded in. Her eyes darted back and forth as she noted that she was still in the infirmary. She glanced down to see the hand that was holding hers, running a thumb over her knuckles, and followed it up with her eyes to see…

“Hi Sam,” Jack said, smiling down at her. His voice was light but even so she could see the worry that was still there in the lines around his eyes. 

“Hi Jack,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “Glad you’re here.”

“Of course I’m here. Nowhere else I’d be. Wish I could have stayed earlier but those damn doctors, always kicking me out.”

She laughed lightly and squeezed his hand.

“How’re you feeling?” he asked. 

“Oh, like I’ve had yet another bullet dug out of me,” she said, carefully wriggling deeper into her pillow.

“So, no big deal then?”

“Nope. Ready to go home now,” she said, closing her eyes. 

“Doctor Lam wants you to stay the night.”

She wrinkled her nose at that statement. “Damn doctors,” she echoed under her breath.

“I’ll stay with you,” he said, amused. 

“You don’t have to.”

“Sorry,” he said, settling back in his chair and propping his feet up on the bed. “You’re stuck with me.”

“I can live with that,” she said smiling. She was quiet for a long moment and Jack thought she had fallen asleep. “I’m sorry,” she eventually said.

“What for?” He asked, surprised.

“For what happened to our weekend away.”

“Sam,” he said sternly, “none of that was your fault.”  
“They hacked my email.”

“It’s the Trust, unfortunately that’s kinda their specialty. You didn’t do a damn thing wrong and I don’t want you thinking that you did. And that’s an order.”

She smiled. That beautiful smile that lit up her face. The one that was just for him. “Yes sir.”

“Now, how about I make it up to you and once you’re all fixed up we’ll have another weekend away with no bad guys, no Teal’c, no guns, no sneaking around in my pajamas, and most importantly, no Daniel. I promise.”

“Sounds wonderful,” she said, her voice was starting to sound sleepy again. “Back to Minnesota?”

“Anywhere but Minnesota.”


	17. Chapter 17

Two weeks later Sam was once again waiting for Jack to pick her up. He had gone back to Washington after she was released from the infirmary and this time it was harder than ever to have him leave. 

“I hate to leave you,” he said, holding her tight against his chest in her driveway after he brought her home. “You sure you’ll be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. Daniel and Teal’c are bringing dinner over tonight.”

“I’ll be back soon,” he murmured into her hair. “I still owe you a weekend away, you know.”

She nodded cheek brushing against the thick fabric of his jacket. She had promised herself she wouldn’t make it harder than it already was when he left. But he was back in his blue uniform, cut so perfectly across his shoulders and she wanted nothing more than to twist his tie up in her hand and pull him into her house. The fact that Dr. Lam told her to take it easy be damned. He had a flight to catch though, so she took a deep breath, tipped her head back and kissed him. Lightly at first then deeper until she was out of breath and lightheaded. 

He slowly pulled away, catching her bottom lip between his teeth. “Damn,” he muttered. 

She laughed once. “Yeah.”

“I’ll call you when I get there.”

“Okay.” 

He turned to leave and she held onto his hand as long as she could before dropping it as he got into his truck and drove away. She kept watching long after it disappeared down her street till finally sighing she turned and walked back into the house. 

He had called two nights ago and told her he’d be back in town on Friday and to be ready at 1700. 

“Where are we going?” She asked. 

“Can’t tell you, it’s a surprise.”

“What are we going to do?” She tried again. 

“Do you really have to ask that?” He responded, voice laced with meaning. 

“Good point. Okay, I’ll see you then.” She tossed the phone on her bed and went to absently rifle through her closet. Excitement thrummed through her veins. They almost never got to see each other this frequently and she was ready to make up for their disaster of a getaway. She threw a few things in a bag, not really paying attention then pulled up a report to read to pass the time.

She checked her watch for what must have been the 20th time in the last half hour. 1658. She peered out the window again, still no sign of his truck. 

She had spent more time than usual getting dressed. The anticipation was getting to her and it was hard to know what to wear when it was a surprise. She hated not knowing anything.  _ Probably why Jack had done it _ , she thought wryly. 

She had settled on jeans with a silver top when she remembered their jeans debacle the last time they were together. Sighing, she stripped the outfit off, went back to her closet and was beginning to flip through again when she spied the black dress in the back. She hadn’t worn it in years, but after a moment's consideration she slipped it off the hanger and pulled it over her head. The perfect combination of short and low in the front while still leaving something to the imagination. It still hugged in all the right places, she thought as she did a slow turn in front of the mirror. 

She grinned. Why not? Served him right for not telling her where they were going. She fished her black heels from the bottom of the closet, the extra high ones, and slid them on. She was ready. 

She was looking out the window when a cracking sound and bright flash of light caused her to jump and sent her hand scrambling towards her thigh for a weapon that wasn’t there. 

Jack O’Neill was standing in the middle of her living room wearing a black suit and holding a bouquet of flowers. 

“Holy Hannah,” she breathed. “Sir did you just beam into my house?”

He turned slightly and caught sight of her. His jaw dropped an inch and he just stared. 

“Jack?” She asked again. 

He shook his head slightly, “Uh yeah. Called in a favor. You ready to go?”

“Go where? In what?” She asked puzzled. 

“You’ll see,” he said mysteriously walking towards her. 

He glanced at his watch. “In 3, 2, 1…” Sam waited expectantly but nothing happened. 

“Damn,” he sighed. 

There was another flare and a beam of light encased her and Jack and they were swept away. 

For a second Sam saw the bulkheads of the Odyssey, and then there was another flash of light, and reality reformed around her into an image of the sun sinking through the trees and into a pond behind a certain cabin. 

“I thought you said anywhere but Minnesota,” Sam said, turning to Jack who was standing next to her. 

“I know,” he said, sounding slightly chagrined, “but I wanted to show you something.”

He slipped her hand into his and led her up the steps to the porch. There was a new door, freshly painted, and Jack turned a key in the lock before swinging it open. 

“Wow,” Sam breathed, looking around. While before the space had been dark but cozy, now it was open and airy. The bookshelf was still there but it was about the only thing that remained. There was a new couch, fluffy rugs on the hard floors, curtains on the windows, and in the kitchen she could see glimpses of brand new appliances. If she hadn’t seen the outside she never would have known this was the same space. 

She turned to see Jack staring at her, still holding the flowers. 

“Do you like it?” He asked. 

“It’s beautiful,” she said. 

“I was hoping you’d still want to come here, and I thought maybe if it looked different? And there is a complete security system, with a perimeter alert. So, if Daniel and Teal’c show up, we’ll know.”

She grinned. “It’s perfect.”

Jack watched her make a slow twirl in the middle of his cabin. Daniel had talked him into doing a complete renovation and for once he was glad that he had listened to the man. He had kept it a surprise party because he wasn’t sure she would ever want to come here again. However some of his trepidation had lifted as he watched her eyes light up when she walked in and the smile that now spread over her face was infectious. 

His eyes traveled south. He always thought she looked amazing, but damn, he couldn’t help but stare at her in that dress. Her legs seemed to go on forever and the black fabric hugged her ass oh so perfectly it was taking all his self control not to run his hands over it. 

The table was already set, his plan had been to make them dinner, but right now that seemed like a waste of time. Sam finished her turn, faced him again and met his eyes.

“What?” she said teasingly. 

“I was just thinking there was one more thing I needed to show you.”

“Well then, lead the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has taken me so long to get this chapter up! This didn't go the direction I had originally planned it, but I hope you liked it!


	18. Chapter 18

Jack put his hand on the small of her back and led her over to the bedroom door. He pushed it open to reveal a new bed that didn’t sag in the middle and had rose petals scattered over the blankets. There were candles lining the window sill, and a bottle of champagne sitting in ice on the bedside table. 

“How many times have you had the Odyssey beam you up here today?” she asked, walking into the room and looking around

“A few,” he admitted. “By the way, the rose petals were Teal'c's idea.”

“Ah. Wait what?” She spun back around to face him.

He laughed at her expression from where he stood leaning against the doorframe. He was silhouetted against the light in the main room and Sam took a minute to enjoy the view. His silver hair was tousled just right and the suit jacket set off his broad shoulders perfectly. She tried to think if she had ever seen him in a suit that wasn’t his dress blues before but she couldn’t think of a time. And she was pretty sure she would have remembered it though.

The heat that had flooded her the moment she saw him appear in her living room was threatening to overwhelm her and she bit her lip. As much as she loved looking at him she was done waiting. She kicked her shoes off into a corner, took two steps towards him, wrapped her hand around his tie and walked backwards towards the bed. He willingly followed and she fell backwards onto the soft duvet, pulling him down on top of her. 

Immediately his mouth was on hers, and she was eagerly kissing him back. His tongue was insistent and she eagerly relented. She realized just how much she missed him. Missed this. She couldn’t get enough of him. Reaching up, she tangled one hand up in his short hair, nails grazing over his scalp. He slid one hand up her thigh underneath the hem of her black dress and began to draw circles on the inside of her leg, causing her to shiver. 

She let her hand come back around his neck so she could loosen his tie by touch. It came undone and she went for the buttons on his white shirt. She panted slightly as she tried and failed to get them undone. Throwing one leg around his back she pushed on his shoulders and in one smooth motion rolled him over and came to rest on top, straddling his hips. His eyes widened as he looked up at her. 

“Well hello Colonel,” he said. She grinned, leaned down and sucked his bottom lip for a long second before attacking the buttons on his shirt again. Finally she had them all undone and she threw his shirt open. She was just barely sliding back and forth across his hips driving him mad. Her dress had ridden up well over her thighs and he reached behind her to squeeze her ass. She groaned and reached for the bottom hem of her dress. 

“No,” he said, catching her hands and pulling her back down to his chest. “Leave it on,” he whispered in her ear. 

He caught her earlobe in between his teeth and tugged just a little before running a line of kisses down her neck, lingering just long enough to leave a trail of heat burning under the skin. Sliding back slightly down his legs she raked her nails across his chest. 

“You should wear this suit more often,” she murmured appreciatively, admiring the way his muscled chest looked under the unbuttoned dress shirt. 

“Only if you wear the dress,” he said, looking down at her slowly moving down his prone form and enjoying the fact that he was at the perfect angle to look straight down the front of it.

“Can’t, there’s nowhere to put my gun.”

“I guess that is a problem.”

Her fingers had reached his belt and she quickly pulled the excess through the loops and undid the buckle. He hand paused, just for a second at the button. 

“Jesus Sam,” he moaned. 

“What?” she said innocently, then with a single flip of her fingers had it open and the zipper immediately followed. She lifted her weight off his legs to slide his dress pants and boxers down to his knees. 

He reached over to wriggle her dress up around her waist revealing her lack of underwear.    
“Shit,” he breathed. 

She grinned wickedly and settled herself back onto his hips making him gasp out loud. He slid his hands up the front of her thighs over her latest scar and settled them around her ass pulling her deeper onto him. She locked eyes with him as she rode him, the pleasure of the moment building inside her. Everything became a blur except for his dark eyes. A part of her mind somehow marveled that no matter how many times she had imagined this moment over the years, no matter how wild her fantasies, it was somehow still better. Nothing could compare to how perfect it was. To how right he felt. 

She tried to hold on to everything, to remember exactly how everything was, the way he looked underneath her, his breath that was coming out in gasps, the crinkle of the sheets under her legs. The way his fingers held her tightly against him. He moved his hips, just an inch and her toes curled tightly under her legs, a shudder ran up her entire spine, and she collapsed against his chest. 

She sank into him and he wrapped his arms around her back and held her tightly. He could feel her heart racing against and she panted for breath. He held her until her breathing slowed and her heart rate returned to normal. Slowly he loosened his arms and she rolled off him and rested her head against his chest. 

“Let’s stay here forever,” she murmured after a while, drawing a lazy circle on his chest with her finger. “Someone else can save the universe for once.” 

“Fine by me,” he said, even though they both knew she didn’t really mean it. “You know,” he continued propping himself up on his elbow and looking at her, “this place is for you too Sam. Anytime you want, just give me a call and I’ll meet you here. Tell the bad guys, asteroids and science projects they can wait a few days.”

“Thank you,” she said. 

“For what?”

“For everything.” 

He leaned down and brushed his lips ever so gently across her lips. “Always. I love you Sam.”

She closed her eyes and smiled underneath his lips. “I love you too,” she breathed. 

“And now,” he said, suddenly flipping her onto her back. “We still have a lot of weekend left to go. Time to lose the dress.” 

She grinned up at him and lifted her arms over her head. “Yes sir...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! This one was fun to write. I hope you enjoyed it!


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